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First Female President of Mauritius Denies She Plans to Resign

  • Announcement sets in motion potential constitutional crisis
  • Gurib-Fakim became Mauritius’s first woman president in 2015
Ameenah Gurib-Fakim 

Ameenah Gurib-Fakim 

Photographer: Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images

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Mauritian President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, the first woman head of state of the Indian Ocean island nation, denied any plans to resign and said she’s prepared to go to court over allegations she spent money from a charity on a shopping trip.

Gurib-Fakim’s announcement pitched Mauritius into a constitutional crisis. Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth said March 9 Gurib-Fakim told him she’s stepping down amid accusations she shopped using a credit card given to her by the Planet Earth Institute, a non-governmental organization linked to an Angolan businessman and philanthropist.