From acting in front of the camera or on stage to representing the people under the dome of the Moroccan Parliament, actresses Fatima Khair and Kalila Bounailat are making this transition as they have secured parliamentary seats for the National Rally of Independents, a party that swept the results of the September 8 elections, marking a significant defeat for the Justice and Development Party.
After a rich artistic experience spanning 30 years, Khair ran for election as a candidate on the regional women's list in the Casablanca-Settat constituency (central-west), while Bounailat competed for her seat in the Souss-Massa region (central) after 20 years in her artistic career. They both received nominations from the National Rally of Independents (a liberal party) to run on its women's list, and they won two seats, becoming the first two actresses to enter the Parliament. The first Moroccan actor to reach Parliament was cinema and drama star Yassine Ahjaj in the 2011 elections when he ran for the Justice and Development Party.
The first Moroccan singer to win a parliamentary seat was Amazigh music star, rabab player, and poet Fatima Tabboumerant (59 years old), who won in June 2011 when she ran on the women's list for the same party, the National Rally of Independents.
Moroccan artists welcomed their colleagues Fatima Khair and Kalila Bounailat's arrival in Parliament, considering it an important breakthrough for those working in the artistic and cultural sector and an expression of the ability of creators to engage in the political arena effectively, gaining the public's trust in the elections.
Khair emphasized that her success is due to the voters' trust in her and her party's program, stating she will work over the next five years to be the voice of the people, particularly the residents of her constituency and the artistic and cultural community to which she belongs. Meanwhile, Bounailat promised to perform her role to the best of her ability, representing both rural spaces and the artistic sphere.
Fatima Khair was born in 1968 in Casablanca and has been married since 2001 to actor Saad Tasouli; they have a daughter, Aya (14 years old), and a son, Yahya (4 years old). Her rise in television drama began in 1988 with the series "Wafa," and her first film was "Dream Thief" in 1994, followed by "Women... Women" in 1997. She has participated in several films, including "Yaqout," "Saida," "Division Number 8," "The Broken Wings," "The Rakrakia," and "Punishment." Khair gained notable stardom in various dramatic works, recognized by television audiences as the host of several programs, including "Families and Solutions" and "Lalla Al-Arroussa" on the first channel.
Before winning her parliamentary seat, Fatima held the position of vice president within the Moroccan Federation of Rallying Artists, established within the National Rally of Independents as an organization parallel to the political entity, tasked with addressing issues related to art and culture.
Kalila Bounailat was born in 1981 in Tata, southeast of the country, and won her seat in the coastal city of Agadir, located 520 km south of the capital Rabat. She is married to director and producer Ibrahim Shakiri. Her entry into the artistic world was by chance in 2004 when her twin sister, "Dimna," received an invitation to work on her first artistic project, a television film. Because of Dimna's travel outside Morocco, Kalila stepped in and achieved significant success, which was quickly bolstered by her performance in the series "Daily School" on the fourth channel.
In 2007, she filmed a new movie "Funida," and starred in the first film spoken in the Hassaniya dialect, "Four Chambers," after which she participated in several artistic works including the Ramadan series "Forever," "Karima," and the television film "Rahimo," followed by "Revenge" and "Dissociation." In cinema, she played the lead role in "Tears of Silver" directed by Mourad Boucif and then in "The Road to Kabul," directed by her husband Ibrahim Shakiri, which achieved great success.
