MARRAKECH, Jun 22, 2009 (AFP) - A 33-year-old lawyer on Monday became the first woman to be elected mayor of Marrakech, one of Morocco's biggest cities and a key tourist destination.
Fatima Zahra Mansouri outpolled veteran outgoing mayor Omar Jazouli by 54 votes to 35 in Monday's municipal council vote, only the second time a woman has taken a mayoral position in the North African kingdom.
"I am honoured to lead Marrakech city hall," Mansouri said. "I hope to be able to measure up to this new challenge."
"Her election reflects the image of a modern Morocco," said the secretary general of her Party for Authenticity and Modernity (PAM), Cheikh Mohamed Biyadillah.
Mansouri studied law in France, and is a daughter of a former assistant to the local authority chief in Marrakech, which has a population of more than one million.
PAM was the biggest winner in June 12 municipal elections, taking 21 percent of the vote, edging out the Istiqlal party of Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi.
The polls were a first electoral test for the PAM, a coalition of five small parties formed in 2008 by former interior minister Fouad Ali El Himma, a friend of King Mohammed VI.
mc/heg/db/mjs
Copyright AFP 2009.
