Tunisia President Says Govt. Not Meeting People's Needs

President Moncef Marzouki said on Friday that the government of Islamist and rival Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali is not meeting the expectations of the people, as clashes between police and protesters in a flashpoint town intensified.

"The expectations of the people are huge and the performance of the government is not meeting those expectations," Marzouki said in a televised speech, stressing that Tunisia was at a crossroads between "the road to ruin and the road to recovery."

"Tunisia today requires a limited and effective government, with the necessary competencies," he said. "The appointments should be formed on the basis... of competence and not on partisan grounds."

"We do not have a single Siliana... I am afraid that it could spread to several regions and threaten the future of the revolution," he said.

He was speaking after violence flared for the fourth straight day in Siliana, 120 kilometers (75 miles) southeast of Tunis, that has left hundreds of people wounded, as political instability mounts two years after the revolution.

In the early evening, police, backed up by armored cars, fired warning shots and tear gas after hundreds of protesters hurled rocks and petrol bombs at them and erected barricades in the town center, setting some of them on fire.

Since early afternoon, the police had been trying to disperse several thousand youths protesting in the town, firing tear gas and chasing them through the streets.

"If we were allowed, I would not hesitate to use real bullets," a policeman told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Thousands had taken to the streets of the impoverished town earlier -- demanding Governor Ahmed Ezzine Majjoubi's resignation and financial aid in a fourth straight day of unrest -- where the authorities have been battling to maintain order.

A representative of the UGTT, Tunisia's main trade union, which had called Friday's demonstration, unsuccessfully urged the protesters to disperse, and appeals for calm from the Islamist-led government were also ignored.

The authorities were unable provide details on the number of people wounded in the latest clashes.

But more than 300 people have been hurt since Tuesday when the protesters first took to the streets of Siliana, sparking the unrest.

Early on Friday, a "symbolic" march a few kilometers towards Tunis drew a crowd of thousands, who took part on foot, in cars and on motorcycles, chanting: "With our souls and our blood we sacrifice for Siliana."

Protesters told AFP they would continue their agitation until Mahjoubi steps down, police repression ends and a development program for the region is put in place.

Jebali has refused to sack Mahjoubi.

Marzouki hails from the secular Congress of the Republic partner in the coalition government led by Jebali, whose Ennahda party holds the largest number of seats in the interim parliament.

But he does does not have the power to reshuffle the government, which is Jebali's prerogative.

Precarious living conditions, widespread unemployment and police brutality were driving factors behind the revolution that toppled former strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January last year.

Amnesty International and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay both called on the authorities to end the use of "excessive force" against the protesters in Siliana.

Demonstrations took place in Tunis and Kef, west of the capital, in support of the protesters in Siliana.

"We will undertake a symbolic march to show the determination of the people against (economic) marginalization," UGTT regional secretary general Nejib Sebti told AFP earlier, urging the crowd to march "quietly and peacefully".

"We are ready for dialogue but without the presence of the governor," Sebti added.

Protesters are also angry about police violence during the protests since Tuesday, with some of them treated for shotgun wounds.

"This is what the Ennahda (the ruling Islamist party) police did to me," said a man showing injuries to his legs and hips.

Amnesty called for an immediate investigation into claims that shotguns and other firearms were used against the protesters.

On Thursday, Jebali promised an investigation into the violence, which he said was threatening the country's fledgling democracy as it approaches the second anniversary of the revolution triggered on December 17, 2010.

The violence in Siliana comes as clashes, strikes and attacks by Salafists have multiplied across Tunisia, plunging the country into a political impasse.

Much of the country's interior suffers from a chronic lack of development and has seen rising discontent over the government's failure to raise living standards.