Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has appointed Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as the country’s first female prime minister and tasked her with forming a new government.

Axar.az reports, citing Moroccan media, that the appointment follows the September 23 parliamentary election, in which El Mansouri’s Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) won 97 of the 395 seats in the House of Representatives.

Under Morocco’s Constitution, the king appoints the head of government from the party that wins the most seats in the House of Representatives.

El Mansouri, 50, is a lawyer who served as minister of national territory planning, housing and city policy and has also served as mayor of Marrakesh. She will now lead negotiations to form a governing coalition, as PAM falls short of the 198 seats required for a parliamentary majority.

El Mansouri was first elected mayor of Marrakesh in 2009, becoming the first woman to hold the position. She returned to the post after the 2021 local elections.

Her government will oversee major investments linked to Morocco’s preparations for the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which the country will co-host with Spain and Portugal.