"This copycat group which calls itself Tamarod is clear, and I think it represents a danger to the democratic process, an attempt to make it fail in Tunisia," Larayedh said in a radio interview on Monday.

"I don't think this movement will succeed. It's a copy of something foreign in Tunisia," he added, referring to Egypt's grass-roots movement behind the mass protests that led to president Mohamed Morsi's overthrow on July 3.

Shortly before Morsi was ousted, Tunisia's version of Tamarod launched a petition demanding the dissolution of the national assembly, where the ruling Islamist party holds the most seats.

Ennahda party, which is close to Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and heads Tunisia's coalition government, triumphed in October 2011 parliamentary polls -- the first freely-held elections after the mass protests that toppled former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

According to the latest figures, dated July 14, the group has collected 870,000 signatures, Tamarod spokesman Mehdi Said claimed.

The movement, which was created by 14 youth activists, has struggled to mobilize mass support and internal differences have seen three of its founding members evicted.

The National Constituent Assembly has failed to adopt a new constitution nearly two years after it was elected, due to a lack of consensus among MPs, and has also been repeatedly criticized for its inefficiency and the non-attendance of members.

NTJ/BA