The attorney general of the Maldives quit Sunday as the country’s political crisis deepened with the president and the opposition-controlled parliament wrangling over a new Supreme Court.

Husnu Sood, a close associate of President Mohamed Nasheed, stepped down after accusing the parliament of undermining the constitution in the Indian Ocean archipelago nation.

In a televised addressed, Sood accused the parliament of blocking the establishment of a new Supreme Court by Sunday as required by the 2008 constitution.

“He blamed the parliament for undermining the constitution and not allowing the judicial system to work properly,” an official close to Sood told AFP by telephone. “He resigned protesting against the attitude of the parliament.”President Nasheed appointed a panel to carry out the administrative work of the Supreme Court from Sunday after the two-year term of the court expired Saturday without parliament’s approving a replacement. (more…)