Morocco has never had a woman run its government. As of Tuesday, it does.

King Mohammed VI formally appointed Fatima Zahra Mansouri, a 50-year-old lawyer and two-time mayor of Marrakesh, as prime minister and instructed her to form a new government, palace officials confirmed. The move caps a whirlwind week that began September 23, when Mansouri's centrist Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) topped national parliamentary elections for the first time since the party was founded in 2008.

Under Morocco's 2011 constitution — rewritten in the wake of Arab Spring protests specifically to curb royal power over government formation — the king is required to name his prime minister from whichever party wins the most seats. PAM took 97 of 395 seats, well short of the 198 needed for an outright majority, meaning Mansouri now faces weeks of coalition horse-trading before she can actually govern.

"A source of pride"

Mansouri, who studied law at the University of Montpellier in France, was the first woman ever elected mayor of Marrakesh in 2009 and has served twice in that role. In the outgoing government she held the housing and urban planning portfolio. Her father was a senior Marrakesh official and former Moroccan ambassador to the UAE.

"For the first time in our country's history, a woman is taking on the responsibility of leading the government. This is a source of pride not only for me but for all Moroccan women," Mansouri said following her appointment.

The appointment makes Mansouri only the second woman to lead a government anywhere in the Arab world, following Tunisia's Najla Bouden, who served as prime minister from 2021 to 2023, according to NBC News. Coverage from The Washington Post and other outlets described the moment as a landmark for a country where women still hold a minority of seats in the legislature despite gender-parity provisions in recent electoral law.

Mansouri's in-tray is heavy. She inherits an economy squeezed by inflation and unemployment, a housing crisis in major cities, and the logistics of co-hosting the 2030 FIFA World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal — a project tied to billions of dollars in infrastructure spending. She will also need to stitch together a governing coalition from a fragmented parliament; the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party has already signaled it intends to sit in opposition rather than join her cabinet.

Palace watchers note that PAM was founded by Fouad Ali El Himma, a close adviser to King Mohammed VI, and has long been seen as sympathetic to the monarchy — meaning Mansouri's appointment, while historic, is unlikely to herald a dramatic shift in the balance of power between Morocco's elected government and its royal palace. Still, for a country where the previous prime minister, businessman Aziz Akhannouch, led an outgoing coalition dogged by cost-of-living protests, the symbolism of the handover is significant.

Mansouri is expected to spend the coming weeks in coalition talks before presenting a full cabinet lineup to the king for formal approval.