Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, chosen as the first woman to head a Moroccan government on Tuesday, has made young Moroccans a central focus of her platform, promising to "restore hope" in a country facing mounting economic and social pressures.
Over the course of nearly two decades, El Mansouri -- from the centre-right Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), which won last week's parliamentary elections -- has built a political career that has taken her from Marrakesh city hall to the centre of national politics.
The 50-year-old lawyer, who has also served as the kingdom's housing minister, will have to negotiate with other parties to form a coalition as the PAM did not secure an outright majority, though her experience as its national coordinator could help.
She will be expected to tackle several issues including unemployment and the cost of living, as well as persistent social disparities particularly weighing on young people.
"Young people are going through a crisis and we must provide them with answers," she said during the campaign. "We want to restore their hope, not only through speeches, but through concrete solutions."
The parliamentary vote came just weeks after tens of thousands of mainly young Moroccan migrants rushed into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, highlighting socioeconomic frustrations among the youth.
It also came a year after a Gen-Z protest movement took to the streets to demand better health and education.
- Local beginnings -
Born into a prominent Marrakesh family, El Mansouri entered politics through the Movement for All Democrats, which was founded in 2008 by royal adviser Fouad Ali El Himma and paved the way for the creation of the PAM.
In 2009, at 33, she became mayor of Marrakesh, the first woman to hold the post in the tourist hotspot. El Mansouri entered parliament two years later and rose through the PAM's ranks.
"I started politics at the local level," she said in a recent interview. "I draw my confidence from the people of Marrakesh who placed their trust in me."
In 2015, she lost her mayorship to the Islamist opposition Justice and Development Party (PJD)'s Mohamed Larbi Belcaid.
But she was re-elected to the post in 2021 and was also appointed as minister of territorial planning and housing later that year.
El Mansouri will have to oversee Morocco's preparations to co-host the 2030 World Cup, while also carrying forward the government's autonomy plan for the disputed Western Sahara.
© Agence France-Presse
