Moroccan Prime Minister Fatima Zahra Mansouri forms a four-party coalition

The Authenticity and Contemporary Party (PAM), winner of Morocco’s legislative elections, announced on Monday the formation of a four-party coalition to appoint Fatima Zahra Mansouri as prime minister. The coalition includes its former governing partner, the Independence Party, and two center-left parties.

In a statement following days of consultations, the party said, “A political majority has been agreed upon, comprising the Authenticity and Contemporary Party, the Independence Party, the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP), and the Progress and Socialism Party (PSP).” Meanwhile, the National Rally of Independents (RNI), which led the outgoing government, remains in opposition after finishing second in the September 23 elections, which were won by the Authenticity and Contemporary Party.

On September 29, King Mohammed VI appointed Mansouri, the coordinator of the collective leadership of the PAM, as prime minister, tasked with forming a cabinet for a five-year term, making her the first woman to hold this position in Morocco’s history.

The statement added that the four parties would propose “ministers and ministers of state who possess competence, political acumen, integrity, and probity, within a cohesive and strong government capable of swiftly implementing the contents of the government program to be drafted at the earliest opportunity.”

The members of the government, proposed by Mansouri, will be appointed by King Mohammed VI. By tradition, ministers for strategic portfolios such as Interior and Foreign Affairs are appointed from outside political parties.

The declared majority holds 207 out of 395 seats in the House of Representatives. The return of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces and the Progress and Socialism Party (center-left) to the government comes after more than five years in parliamentary opposition.