'1.6 million seek Tunisia government's resignation'

Organisers of Tunisia's Tamarod (Rebel) movement said Sunday that they have collected 1.6 million signatures demanding the dissolution of the country's constituent assembly and resignation of the government, Shems FM radio reported.

The movement's organisers said their aim was to gather two million signatures to press for the government's resignation and to establish a new union government, Xinhua reported.

The movement is similar to the Tamarod grassroots campaign in Egypt, which announced that it had collected more than 22 million signatures demanding Islamist president Mohamed Morsi to step down and hold early presidential elections.

Earlier, about 60 opposition representatives quit the Tunisian constituent assembly, forcing Speaker Mustapha Ben Jaafar to suspend the assembly's work.

Tunisia's recent political crisis was sparked by the assassination of Mohamed Brahmi, a prominent opposition figure, July 25. The country's main labour union UGTT then called for massive strikes and protests to demand the government to resign.