Morocco: Fatima-Zahra El Mansouri seals a 207-seat majority, a first for a woman

Four Moroccan parties—the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), Istiqlal, the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP), and the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS)—announced on October 12, 2026, via a joint statement, the formation of the majority that will support Fatima-Zahra El Mansouri's government. Together, they hold 207 out of the 395 seats in the House of Representatives, according to Hespress.

The PAM, led by El Mansouri, came out on top in the legislative elections on September 23, 2026. King Mohammed VI appointed her head of government on September 29, according to Africanews: she becomes the first woman called to lead the Moroccan executive, and one of the very few women to hold this position on the continent.

A narrow majority of nine seats

With 207 seats, the coalition exceeds the absolute majority threshold by only nine votes. The three partners joined the PAM after two rounds of discussions, with each having to first obtain a mandate from its national bodies. The website Le360 describes a "strong" opposition facing this alliance, which the designated head of government presents as a "political" majority, coherent in its orientations.

Ministers expected in the coming days

El Mansouri says she conducted two weeks of in-depth political consultations with the various parties. The four parties must now propose names of ministers based on criteria of "competence, political sense, integrity, and probity," and then quickly build the government program, according to the statement. According to Le360, the new team is expected to have fewer portfolios, organized into major clusters, with a desire to include more women.

Unemployment and the cost of living at the forefront

Unemployment and the cost of living, particularly for young people, dominated the campaign and are among the first priorities announced, reports Africanews. The four-party statement also cites social justice, territorial equity, and strengthening the productive capacities of the national economy.

The first political test for this majority will be parliamentary: the House of Representatives must elect its president before examining the government's program. For a coalition that holds only a nine-seat margin, every vote will count—and every social promise will be measured against the expectations of Moroccan youth who, in the streets as well as at the ballot box, have already made it known that they will not wait.