Morocco's first female prime minister launches coalition talks

Morocco's first female prime minister began coalition talks after King Mohammed VI asked her to form a government, after her Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) won the largest number of seats in parliamentary elections last week.

Fatima Ezzahra El-Mansouri, a 50-year-old lawyer who served as housing minister in the outgoing government and as mayor of Marrakech, was appointed by the king on Tuesday. The king determines the country's political and economic direction and names key ministers. His authority supersedes that of the prime minister in all matters.

Mansouri was chosen instead of Fouzi Lekjaa, long-serving head of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, who had been seen as a contender so that he could lead preparations for the 2030 World Cup tournament.

The decision appeared motivated by the desire to project an image of change and "optimism", said Riccardo Fabiani, north Africa director of the International Crisis Group.

"I think they realised that she's the leader of the party and has been doing well and that Lekjaa will not complain if they don't pick him, so they can send an even stronger signal of progress even though the change is cosmetic," said Fabiani. "It also helps project a modern image of Morocco to the outside world."

Lekjaa, a former budget minister, joined PAM two months before the poll and was immediately given a seat on its political bureau, which further fuelled the rumours about his impending elevation.

PAM secured 97 out of 395 seats. The elections were marked by a low turnout of 38 per cent, down from 50 per cent in 2021. The electoral system is engineered so that no party can secure an outright majority and governments are always coalitions.

Mansouri's government will need to address rising discontent over 37 per cent youth unemployment and anger at high prices straining family budgets. It will also have to oversee the completion of a $20bn investment programme in sports facilities and infrastructure for the World Cup, which Morocco will co-host with Spain and Portugal.

Young protesters who rallied in Moroccan cities for weeks in 2025 had decried massive spending on the tournament instead of funding services such as health and education.

Economic discontent was also on display more recently when some 70,000 people -- predominantly Moroccans -- swam to Spain's North African exclave of Ceuta at the end of July. More than 140 people died in the crossing.

PAM was founded in 2008 by a childhood friend and close adviser of the monarch who is seen by many as the second most powerful man in the kingdom.

Mansouri has not ruled out a coalition with another party close to the palace, the National Rally for Independents, which led the outgoing coalition and secured 66 seats in the latest poll. She met RNI leaders on Wednesday morning with Lekjaa at her side, according to reports in the Moroccan press.

Fabiani predicted the football tsar would remain in government. "The World Cup is still the number one event for the Moroccan regime and there are a lot of expectations around it," he said. "So you have a woman politician who has been elected multiple times to signal change, and you also keep the technocrat running the important stuff in the background."