King Mohammed VI of Morocco has appointed Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as the country’s first female prime minister.
With her appointment, she becomes the second woman to serve as prime minister in the Arab world, after Tunisia’s Najla Bouden.
The 50-year-old urban planning minister and mayor of Marrakesh has been tasked with forming a new government, according to a statement from the royal palace on Tuesday.
El Mansouri described her appointment as “truly historic” in a televised address.
“For the first time in our country’s history, a woman is taking on the responsibility of leading the government,” she said.
“This is a source of pride not only for me but for all Moroccan women.”
Her appointment came four days after the results of last week’s parliamentary election were announced.
Her Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) won 97 of the 395 seats in Morocco’s House of Representatives, the largest number secured by any party.
El Mansouri joined the PAM in 2008, the year it was founded by current royal adviser Fouad Ali El Himma as a counterweight to the country’s Islamist movement.
ALSO READ: Meet Judith Suminwa Tuluka, The First Female Prime Minister of DR Congo
Born in Marrakesh in 1976, Fatima El Mansouri studied law and obtained a diploma in advanced studies from the University of Montpellier in France. She also earned a diploma in Anglo-Saxon business law from New York University.
She entered local politics in 2009 when she was elected mayor of Marrakesh, becoming the first woman to hold the position. She later returned to lead the city’s municipal council after the 2021 elections and served several terms as a member of Morocco’s House of Representatives.
In October 2021, she joined the national government as Minister of National Spatial Planning, Urban Development, Housing, and Urban Policy.
Her ministry oversaw issues including the direct housing support programme, urban planning reforms and the rehousing of people affected by the Al Haouz earthquake.