Women in Moroccan politics: 107 women elected to parliament in 2026
The House of Representatives has 107 women since the 23 September 2026 vote, 27.09% of seats. The figures, the PAM’s share and the programme’s commitments.
The 23 September 2026 vote strengthened the presence of women in the House of Representatives. Six days later, on 29 September, a woman, Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, was appointed Head of Government, a first in Morocco’s history.
107 women in the House of Representatives
The new House has 107 women, 27.09% of seats, against 24.3% in 2021. Seventeen of them won a local-constituency seat, against six in 2021. Among those seventeen are seven PAM candidates, including Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, in the Marrakech Médina-Sidi Youssef Ben Ali constituency. The detailed results are in our article on the 23 September 2026 elections.
Women within the PAM
To prepare for the vote, the PAM opened an online call for applications to all its women activists from 22 to 28 June 2026, for the regional women’s lists. At the top of the party, the collegial leadership created in 2024 has brought together, since 19 October 2024, two women, Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri and Fatima Saâdi, and one man, Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid. This set-up is covered in the article on the PAM’s collegial leadership.
What the 2027-2031 programme provides
The citizenship charter of the programme “To change course. One word!” includes measures that directly concern women. It provides in particular for raising women’s labour-force participation to 21.2% and for guaranteed specialist maternity care, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, in gynaecology and obstetrics units. These commitments are covered in the article on the citizenship charter and on the Programme page.
A first at the head of the government
After the royal audience of 29 September, Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri noted that it was the first time in the country’s history that a woman had taken on this responsibility, and she associated all Moroccan women with the moment:
“This isn’t only a personal pride, but a pride for all Moroccan women.”
Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, remarks to the press after the royal audience, Rabat, 29 September 2026
She also welcomed the Sovereign’s confidence in women:
“The King has always believed in the capabilities of Moroccan women, and believed that the Moroccan woman deserves respect and recognition.”
Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, remarks to the press, Rabat, 29 September 2026
There was a local precedent: in 2009 she became the first woman mayor of Marrakech, as told in our article 2009: first woman Mayor of Marrakech.
Sources
- Le360, “Women’s representation: 107 women MPs in the lower house” (in French) (opens in a new tab)
- Hespress English, “In numbers: Morocco’s new parliament sees more women” (opens in a new tab)
- Hespress English, “‘The work starts today’: Mansouri outlines government-building plans” (opens in a new tab)
- Al Arabiya English, “Morocco’s Marrakech elects first woman mayor” (opens in a new tab)
- PAM, “The PAM electoral programme” (opens in a new tab)
