Morocco’s First Female Prime Minister: Really a Breakthrough?
On September 29, 2026, Fatima Zahra El Mansouri was named the first female Prime Minister of Morocco by King Mohammed VI, after her centrist party won the most seats in a recent parliamentary election. El Mansouri described this event as “truly historic”, and a “source of pride” not only for herself, but for “all Moroccan women”–emphasizing the breaking of a longstanding gender barrier. Yet in a country which has seen significant challenges in the democracy of its institutions and elections, how meaningful will her leadership be in practice? El Mansouri joins a small number of women who have led North African governments. Their records suggest symbolic authority rather than substantive change, because real executive power rests with heads of state who face few checks.
Morocco is not alone in appointing female heads of government. One other country in the Arab world, Tunisia, has had multiple female prime ministers. Tunisia offers a useful point of comparison to Morocco because of the two states’ similar government structures, status of women, and colonial legacies. From 2021 to 2023, Najla Bouden served as prime minister, and the position is currently held by Sarra Zaafrani Zenzri, appointed in 2025. Even so, both states face significant challenges to women’s equality. According to Georgetown’s Women, Peace and Security Index, which measures women’s wellbeing using factors like inclusion, justice, and security with a scoring from 0 (worst) to 1 (best), Tunisia and Morocco receive relatively low scores of ~0.6/1, compared with Denmark’s ~0.9/1.
The benefits of female political leaders operating within free political institutions are clear. Female leaders often fight for the expansion of gender equality laws, better parental leave and childcare, the elimination of gender-based violence, and electoral reform. In India, female-led local councils saw 62% more drinking-water projects than male-led councils, and in Norway, female representation had a direct impact on childcare coverage. Morocco faces similar challenges. Debates surrounding inheritance laws that disproportionately favor male heirs, the continued legality of polygamy, and early school drop-out rates for young girls are important gender-based issues in Morocco, but El Mansouri has rarely spoken publicly about any of them. Unlike those leaders, El Mansouri is unlikely to deliver similar advances, because Morocco’s institutional constraints will keep her priorities from becoming policy.
Tunisia’s President and Morocco’s King exert substantial executive authority over other state institutions, sidelining other politicians. Tunisia’s president, Kais Saied, since being democratically elected in 2019 has dissolved parliament, fired cabinet members, dismissed the Supreme Judicial Council, criminalized “false information”, and has arrested dozens of political opponents, dissenters, lawyers, former officials, and journalists. Saied has dismissed four prime ministers without warning since his consolidation of presidential power in 2021. Operating without restrictions on his power, Saied appoints PMs freely and dismisses them repeatedly. Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, on the other hand, must appoint the PM from the party which wins the most seats in parliament. Despite El Mansouri's electoral legitimacy, which Tunisia’s Zaafrani Zenzri does not have, King Mohammed VI still has the final authority in all matters of government, with exclusive control over religious affairs, security, and strategic policy. Where institutions cannot operate freely, a female prime minister represents an important step towards gender equality, but one of limited practical significance.
These challenges reflect broader barriers to women’s political representation across North Africa. Women hold 18.5% of parliamentary seats, and 19% of representation in local legislative bodies. Although Tunisia and Morocco have made progress in adding female political representation, that alone does not necessarily translate into substantive progress or policy change. The potential benefits of female participation in government don’t happen spontaneously. Morocco’s and Tunisia’s female leaders lack the independent political authority needed to enact policy for the better.
The female leaders of Morocco and Tunisia represent a real symbolic breakthrough. But because political power is concentrated at the top with heads of state who face little to no checks, any prime minister, female or male, would face constraints. As a result, these female politicians’ abilities to affect policy and make gains for women in a substantial way, despite what research might indicate, are structurally limited. While El Mansouri’s appointment holds significance, in practice, her leadership is nominal, with the real power resting elsewhere.