The Islamic saying “a people who entrust their affairs to a woman will never succeed” resurfaced sharply in Morocco after King Mohammed VI appointed Fatima Zahra El Mansouri as the country’s first female prime minister. Mustafa Ramid, a former justice minister in an Islamist-led government, cited the phrase in a Facebook post this month, questioning whether a woman should lead the nation’s government.
Ramid argued that Morocco, a Muslim-majority country, had found a balance between equality and state leadership by reserving the highest office—king—for men. Morocco operates as a constitutional monarchy, but executive power continues to rest with the 63-year-old monarch.
El Mansouri’s Authenticity and Modernity Party (Pam) secured the most seats in September's parliamentary election and announced a coalition with three other parties holding 207 of 395 seats. At 50, El Mansouri has served over two decades in public life, including as mayor of Marrakech and minister for national territory planning, urban planning, housing, and city policy under former Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch.
Her appointment was historic but exposed persistent reservations about women in power. The day after the announcement, Chouf TV interviewed Moroccan men on the streets about a woman heading the government. Responses were hesitant. One older man, unnamed, said: “It feels strange to have a woman as head of government. I’m not sure if it sits well with me.” Others accepted it because it was the king’s decision.
Criticism of the monarchy carries legal risks. Morocco’s penal code criminalises offences against the king and royal family, limiting public dissent on appointments. Online, El Mansouri’s appointment sparked political satire. A widely shared video showed two women pulling each other’s hair, captioned as a metaphor for parliamentary disagreements.
Younger Moroccans, especially women, welcomed the move. Yet conservative religious views remain influential. Some of the country’s most contentious debates involve gender equality in family law, such as inheritance, marriage, and divorce.
Inheritance rules typically give daughters half the share of sons. The Higher Council of Ulemas, Morocco’s body of religious scholars, has rejected calls for equal inheritance, citing Islamic jurisprudence. It also opposes abolishing taasib, a rule that can force female orphans without brothers to share inheritance with male relatives, including distant ones.
Morocco’s National Human Rights Council reported in 2022 that unequal inheritance contributes to women’s poverty. Polygamy remains legal under certain conditions. Proposed family code reforms include allowing women to specify in marriage contracts that their husbands cannot take another wife. However, exceptions remain for a first wife’s infertility or illness, which women’s rights groups argue violate privacy and medical confidentiality.
The Moudawana, Morocco’s family code governing marriage, divorce, and child custody, is under review. Changes announced in 2024 have yet to become law.
Education poses another challenge. Morocco’s High Commission for Planning found in 2025 that only 55% of girls aged 15–17 attend school in rural areas, compared to 100% in urban areas. Poverty, early marriage, and long distances to school contribute to dropouts.
Chifae Laazouzi, a young Moroccan woman, told the BBC many rural girls drop out because schools are far, transport is unsafe or unavailable, and families with limited means keep daughters home. She added, “Menstrual health is still treated as a taboo… I would like to see free menstrual products in schools.”
El Mansouri has not publicly indicated whether she will push family code reforms. In her political career, she has not made prominent statements on women’s rights, even amid debates on inheritance and polygamy.
King Mohammed VI holds the title of Commander of the Faithful, a traditional Islamic title embedded in Morocco’s constitution.
Dr Irene Fernandez-Molina, an expert on the Global South at the University of Exeter, pointed to the context of El Mansouri’s appointment. She said, “Two headlines have dominated coverage of [September’s] parliamentary election in Morocco: a two-decade low turnout and King Mohammed VI’s appointment of a woman as prime minister for the first time in this country’s history. The latter cannot be understood without the former.” Official turnout was 38%, the lowest in two decades.
According to Joy Online.
