Northern Ireland deputy leader resigns amid feud over energy scandal

London (dpa) - Senior Sinn Fein leader Martin McGuinness resigned as deputy leader of Northern Ireland‘s devolved government on Monday, as a feud over an energy scandal threatened to plunge the region into a political crisis.In his resignation letter, McGuinness said Irish republican party Sinn Fein would not nominate a successor for the power-sharing government headed by First Minister Arlene Foster of the Democratic Ulster Unionists.Foster has been embroiled in a scandal over a botched energy scheme which could cost taxpayers nearly 500 million pounds (600 million dollars)."We now need an election to allow the people to make their own judgement on these issues democratically at the ballot box," he wrote after his party failed to persuade Foster to step down over the heating scheme scandal.The resignation of McGuinness is likely to lead to a snap election for the regional assembly, according to analysts.Under the rules of the assembly, first elected in 1998, Foster will be unable to operate as first minister without a deputy to work with her.Sinn Fein had called for her to resign pending an investigation into an overspend of 490 million pounds on a regional Renewable Heating Incentive scheme, which Foster set up while she was an enterprise minister.But Foster has accused Sinn Fein of using the RHI investigation as an excuse to undermine her and manufacture a political crisis.McGuinness accused the DUP of "arrogance" and said his resignation was also a protest against the "DUP‘s failure to accept the principles of power-sharing.""There will be no return to the status quo," he said.