The ruling Islamist party Ennahda called for rallies on Tuesday to mark Tunisian women’s day, deepening the crisis with the opposition which has also called for anti-government protests.

The ruling Islamist party Ennahda called for rallies on Tuesday to mark Tunisian women's day, deepening the crisis with the opposition which has also called for anti-government protests.

In a statement published Monday, Ennahda urged its supporters to gather from 1500 GMT on Habib Bourguiba avenue, epicentre of the 2011 Arab Spring born in Tunisia.

It said the rally would be held under the slogan: "Tunisia's women, pillars of the democratic transition and national unity" in the North African country mired in crisis sparked by the murder in July of an opposition politician.

Tuesday marks the anniversary of the promulgation of the Personal Status Code on August 13, 1956, which gave Tunisian women unequalled rights in the Arab world at the time.

Tunisia's ruling Islamists have regularly been accused of trying to undermine these rights.

Last week National Constituent Assembly chief Mustapha Ben Jaafar  announced the suspension of the assembly's work drawing up a new constitution while Ennahda and the opposition work out their differences.

As the political crisis rolls on, the head of Ennahda Rached Ghannouchi was due to meet the Houcine Abassi, chief of the powerful UGTT unions organization.

The UGTT, which has some 500,000 members and can paralyze the country with strike action, has also called for the resignation of the government and its replacement by a cabinet of technocrats.

Islamists have rejected their demands, and proposed a government including representatives of all political parties.