Ammon News - Tunisia's ruling Ennahda party leader Rachid Ghannouchi has raised the prospect of a referendum as a
way out of the country's political crisis but warned against opposition’s efforts to topple the government.

“If they [opposition] are insistent on terminating the transitional process, we say to them, come, let's have a popular referendum,” the 72-year-old leader said in the interview. “They raised their demands so high and now they're stuck in a tree.”

Tunisia is facing its worst political crisis since protesters toppled former ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Ben Ali in 2011, an uprising that later sparked a wave of “Arab Spring” revolts across the region.

“It's a fact that in Tunisia there are two 'streets',” Ghannouchi said, referring to demonstrations for and against the ruling cabinet following Ennahda claims that 200,000 people rallied on Saturday in support of the party.
That demonstration, however, followed regular protests repeated on Monday that have been staged since the assassination in February of opposition politician Chokri Belaid in a crisis further stoked by the killing of parliament member Mohamed Brahmi, shot dead outside his home earlier on July 25.

A coalition of opposition parties has called for a rally on Tuesday to press for their demands.

So far both the opposition and Ennahda have shown firmness in their positions, though Ghannouchi said he was hopeful a solution to the deadlock would come soon.

“We are open to bringing opposition forces into coalition government. All options are on the table. Anything is possible,” he said.

Ghannouchi further said he was open to most modifications through talks without preconditions from the opposition and even the controversial 'Isolation Law', which aims to block former Ben Ali officials from political life for an unspecified time.