Morocco's first woman PM faces youth hopes, coalition talks

Morocco's royal cabinet has named Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as prime minister, making her the first woman to head the country's government.

El Mansouri, a 50-year-old lawyer from the centre-right Authenticity and Modernity Party, will need to negotiate with other parties after her party won last week's parliamentary elections without securing an outright majority.

She made young Moroccans a central focus of her campaign, saying they were facing a crisis and needed answers. "We want to restore their hope, not only through speeches, but through concrete solutions," she said during the campaign.

Her government is expected to face unemployment, cost-of-living pressure and social disparities, particularly among young people. The election followed a large rush of mainly young Moroccan migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta and came a year after youth-led protests demanding better health and education.

El Mansouri began in local politics in Marrakesh. She became the city's first woman mayor in 2009, entered parliament two years later, lost the mayorship in 2015 and was re-elected to the post in 2021. She was also appointed minister of territorial planning and housing that year.

She will also oversee Morocco's preparations to co-host the 2030 World Cup and carry forward the government's autonomy plan for Western Sahara.