A Tunisian woman poses with a soldier in front of a tank while a friend takes her picture with a mobile phone in downtown Tunis, January 19, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

Not all Tunisians back the protests: "We've been living so long under pressure but maybe we should give the government a chance," said one woman bystander, who did not want to give her name. "People will have a chance to vote."

Around the protest, life continued as normal. Trams were passing through the demonstration. Protesters clapped a woman tram driver who smiled at them as she edged into the crowd.

The streets of Tunis were quiet overnight, with no shooting or looting. In a sign security was improving, state television said that the nightly curfew was shortened by three hours.

Tunisian opposition politician Moncef Marzouki, the leader of a small opposition party who returned to Tunisia from exile in France this week, poses for photograph in Sidi Bouzid, the hometown of Mohamed Bouazizi, January 19, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

Opposition

Moncef Marzouki, the leader of a small opposition party who returned to Tunisia from exile in France this week, visited the grave of Mohamed Bouazizi, who set fire to himself in an act of protest and started the wave of unrest which toppled Ben Ali.

Marzouki, who plans to run for president, also went to where Bouazizi set himself on fire in the town of Sidi Bouzid. About 300 people greeted him and some lifted him onto their shoulders.

People in the crowd carried banners saying: "Ghannouchi must go!" and "The people demand that Ben Ali's people leave!"

Marzouki called for an independent figure to be appointed in place of the present prime minister to form a government.

"If the situation continues with a government built on this old dictatorship, the situation will continue on the street and what I want is for Tunisia to return to stability as soon as possible," he told Reuters in an interview.

In a bid to stem dissent, Ghannouchi on Tuesday quit Ben Ali's old ruling party, the RCD.

Opposition leader Chebbi told Reuters on Wednesday that the government would also announce that RCD officials would no longer receive state salaries.