Tunisia on Tuesday marked the first anniversary of the country's constituent assembly elections under high security.

Army tanks could be seen guarding strategic locations in the capital of Tunis, while police forces patrolled the streets.

On the Bourguiba Avenue, pro- and anti-government demonstrators chanted slogans and waved banners under the watchful gaze of security forces which cordoned off the Interior Ministry located at the edge of the capital's main avenue.

No major incidents were reported.

Similar scenes could be seen in front of the constituent assembly, where the country's leading coalition Troika delivered addresses calling for unity, while opposition parliamentary members were conspicuously absent from the hemisphere, arguing that there was no reason for celebrations.

With the end of the constituent assembly's one-year mandate, tensions were high across the country with a major part of the country's opposition parties denouncing the assembly's lack of legitimacy as of today.

About 22 months after the ouster of the country's former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the north African country has witnessed turbulent times marked by social protests, rising insecurity and religious tensions sparked by the growing presence of religious fundamentalists on the scene.

Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki called for more patience from citizens in his address to the constituent assembly, saying that it was "unfair to blame the government for fixing in a few months the problems accumulated during more than 50 years."

He also said the country needed "a new impulse" to push it forward.