CARACAS, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela's ruling socialist party and conservative opposition groups on Tuesday continued to spar over the control of the federal prosecutor's office.
In the latest move, the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) named a new deputy chief prosecutor, a day after the opposition-controlled National Assembly named its man to the job.
Lawmakers followed the recommendation of the country's chief prosecutor, Luisa Ortega Diaz, to appoint Rafael Gonzalez to the job.
However, the TSJ's Constitutional Court designated Katherine Harrington to serve as its deputy.
Ortega has become an outspoken critic of President Nicolas Maduro's administration, while the TSJ has been accused of sympathizing with the government.
Harrington was one of the six government officials sanctioned by the U.S. government for alleged human rights violations during anti-government protests in 2014.
Venezuela's leftist and right-wing camps are locked in a bitter power struggle that has engulfed government institutions, particularly the judicial and legislative branches.
In a bid to oust Maduro from power, legislators have resorted to a variety of strategies, but most were struck down by the judiciary as unconstitutional.
In an effort to wrest power away from an uncooperative and antagonistic parliament, the supreme court attempted to usurp the National Assembly's legislative duties, a move declared unconstitutional by opposition lawmakers and the chief prosecutor.
Also on Tuesday, the TSJ opened a hearing to determine whether Ortega should be tried for alleged "misconduct," after her office demanded the removal of 33 judicial magistrates.
Ortega boycotted the hearing, calling it "a circus."
Increasingly violent anti-government demonstrations have claimed at least 85 lives since early April, including bystanders shot by stray bullets and government supporters lynched by angry mobs of protesters.
