Morocco Keeps Security Team in New Female-Led Cabinet

Abdelouafi Laftit remains at the Interior Ministry, while Nasser Bourita keeps the foreign affairs portfolio. King Mohammed VI appointed Morocco’s new 32-member government on Friday, and the continuity atop the security and diplomatic apparatus spoke volumes alongside the history made at its head.

The cabinet took its oath at the Royal Palace in Rabat. Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri leads it as the country’s first female head of government. The government follows parliamentary elections held on September 23, and women received seven cabinet positions in all.

A Stable Core

Nine ministers kept their jobs, the Royal Cabinet announced. Alongside Laftit and Bourita, they include Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi and Ahmed Toufiq, minister of endowments and Islamic affairs. Nizar Baraka remains minister of equipment and water. Forests now fall under his portfolio, after previously sitting with the Agriculture Ministry.

Keeping the interior, foreign affairs, justice and Islamic affairs ministers points to a government seeking steady hands on internal order, foreign relations and religious administration. Its stated aims are to accelerate reforms and improve public services.

The Money Man

Fouzi Lekjaa takes over as minister of economy, finance and public sector performance. For years, he served as minister delegate in charge of the budget, preparing annual budgets, monitoring their implementation and managing fiscal reforms. Political observers had widely anticipated his promotion.

His new brief spans mobilizing resources, encouraging investment and financing social programs while maintaining macroeconomic stability. He must also shape fiscal policy and keep development priorities compatible with sustainable public finances. That's a tough balance for any finance minister: pressure for social spending on one side, fiscal discipline on the other.

Women in the Cabinet

The six women appointed alongside El Mansouri hold ministerial or minister delegate posts. Charafat Afailal takes energy, mines and sustainable development. Najwa Koukouss oversees family affairs, social development and equality. Kouloub Faitah becomes minister delegate to the head of government for relations with parliament and civil society.

Madiha Khayr serves as minister delegate for vocational training and qualification, under the minister of national education, preschool education, vocational training and qualification. Fatima Saadi is minister delegate for housing and urban policy, under the minister responsible for national territorial planning, urban development, housing and urban policy. Aicha Kelaa takes charge of administrative reform as minister delegate under the minister of artificial intelligence, digital transformation and administrative reform.

The appointments place women across energy, social policy, parliamentary affairs, vocational training, housing and public administration. El Mansouri’s elevation and the wider presence of women have renewed debate in Morocco about women’s participation in political leadership and government decision-making.

Why This Matters: Morocco sits in a region where governments often lurch between upheaval and stagnation. Rabat’s approach looks different: a first female head of government alongside an unchanged interior, foreign affairs and justice team. Western and regional partners rely on Morocco’s diplomatic and security channels, and that continuity signals predictability. Whether the new cabinet delivers on public services and fiscal stability will test the formula. In a neighborhood where stable governance is scarce, it’s an asset for a North African state.