Tunisian politician warns of 'serious crisis'

The official spokesperson of the opposition Tunisian Workers Communist Party, Hamma al-Hammami, has warned that Tunisia's ruling coalition current policy would lead the country into a crisis and "open the door for a return to the dictatorship". Al-Hammami told Arabstoday: "The country is going through a layover period, as the government has failed to hold any serious refor after more than three months of being in charge." The political opponent accused the government of "neglecting popular social and political demands that were raised by protesters during the revolution, although they promised to address the demands in their election campaign". Al- Hammami also mentioned the Ennahda-led coalition's accusations that the opposition was planning a coup against the democratically-elected government, saying: "We are not demanding the government resign, as we are aware that the failure of this government will open the door to very dangerous complications which we are keen to avoid." When asked about his advice to the government, al-Hammami said: "They need a fixed strategy to achieve what the people expected from them, starting with putting a specific deadline to this transitional period, which shouldn't be beyond a year or 18 months from now". He also demanded the government "protect fundamental freedom especially from extremist religious groups". Tunisia is witnessing a growing trend of "blasphemy accusations" mainly from the Salafist groups, while president Moncef Marzouki earlier demanded the parliament issue a law to criminalise such accusations. "This is imposing a serious threat to the country's national unity and social stability," said Marzouki.