Ennahda, a moderate Islamist party, was the biggest winner in the Oct. 25 elections but they have been at pains to calm fears among the country's secular elites of an Islamic makeover.

Critics have been quick to seize on overt signs of extremism and cited Ennahda's Hamadi Jebali's Sunday comments that Tunisia was entering the "sixth Caliphate."

The party was quick to issue a retraction saying Jebali, who is expected to become the next prime minister, was quoted out of context, and to reaffirm its committment to republican principles.