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Brazilian President Rousseff says not to resign

Xinhua, March 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff said Friday she will not resign despite a widening corruption probe that has ensnared her and a former president.

"A resignation is a voluntary act, and those who want me to resign know that there is no basis to forcibly remove me from this position," she said at a press conference in Brasilia.

"I will not leave this office without motive," she added.

There have been calls for Rousseff to resign, most recently from Senator Aecio Neves, whom Rousseff defeated in the 2014 election by only a small margin.

She also has to deal with a broken alliance, as her main ally, the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, has been gradually pulling back and siding with the opposition.

Calls for her impeachment have continued despite the Supreme Court shutting down a formal impeachment process which began last December.

Rousseff's mentor and former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is being investigated for suspected charges of money laundering and bearing false witness.

He was briefly detained for questioning on March 4 amid evidence showing he benefited from a bribery scheme. Endi