Fatima Mansouri.. First female Prime Minister in Moroccan history

Rabat (Agencies): Moroccan King Mohammed VI has tasked Fatima Zahra Mansouri, coordinator of the collective leadership of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), with forming the new government. A statement from the Ministry of Royal Palaces, Protocol and Decorations announced that King Mohammed VI received Mansouri on Tuesday at the Royal Palace in Rabat, appointed her as head of government, and charged her with forming the new cabinet. See page 12. Mansouri is the first woman to hold this post in the kingdom’s history. Her appointment follows PAM’s victory in the legislative elections held on September 23, when the party won 97 seats in the House of Representatives, ahead of the National Rally of Independents and the Istiqlal Party. Mansouri, 50, said after leaving the Royal Palace in Rabat that her appointment as head of the Moroccan government is a historic moment for Morocco and a source of pride for all women and for the king, who believed in the capabilities of Moroccan women, and that she deserves respect and appreciation. The new Moroccan prime minister holds a degree in private law from Mohammed V University in Rabat, a postgraduate diploma in business contract law from the University of Montpellier in France, and a certificate in Anglo-Saxon law from Pace University in the United States. She was elected mayor of Marrakech in 2009, becoming the first woman to hold that post in the city’s history and the second woman to lead the municipal council of a major city in Morocco.