TUNIS—Tunisia's Islamists and secularists struggled Friday to find a path out of their deepening power struggle, which has paralyzed the country's transition from dictatorship to democracy and diverted its agenda of fixing the economy, security and endemic corruption.

In the nation whose uprising inspired the Arab Spring, opposition activists complain that although the leadership has changed--in Egypt, Libya, and their own country—the repressive systems they sought to transform remain largely in place.

Deep disappointment over high unemployement and a lack of personal liberties has sent people to the streets by the thousands in the country where the Arab Spring was born. Via The Foreign Bureau, WSJ's global news show. Photo: Associated Press

The standoff between Islamists and secularists, punctuated by protests and violence over the past few months, has marred what until recently was one of the brightest spots in an Arab Spring that has disappointed the revolutionaries who took to the streets demanding "jobs, freedom and dignity."

Prime Minister Ali Larayedh signed a commitment Friday that his government would resign in three weeks in the face of opposition accusations that his Islamist Ennahda party has monopolized power, done little to better the lot of ordinary Tunisians, and failed to deliver on promises of greater freedoms.

The two sides then began a dialogue aimed at appointing a new transitional government to lead the country until elections, expected in six months.

The young Tunisians who steered the country's revolution charge that the lot of ordinary people hasn't improved and by some estimates, has worsened. Unemployment is up to 16.7% from 13% on the eve of the revolution. Among Tunisia's graduates, that rate is significantly higher, about 30%.

Suhail Idoudi, a 32-year-old founder of the Unemployed Students Union, says the union's ranks swelled to 10,000 after Tunisia's revolution from a few hundred before. He said university graduates see their more politically connected peers secure government jobs, sometime even buying those positions.

Mr. Idoudi, like many young Tunisians, blames both the governing Ennahda party and the secular opposition for the current state of affairs. "The demands of the Tunisian people were freedom, jobs and dignity. These demands have been forgotten," he said.

"Now it is about whether the burqa should be legal," Mr. Idoudi said, referring to the head-to-toe Islamic dress worn by women. "But at the end of the day, those who are hurt by this political discourse are the poor and unemployed."

At the heart of Tunisia's struggle is the question of whether the state will take on a religious or secular soul, a battle that has echoed in other Arab Spring countries such as Egypt and Syria—countries where what began as peaceful, pro-democracy protests got bogged down in civil war, political deadlock and economic hardship.

Tunisians say the same figures rule their country as before the revolution.

Unrest and protests have grown in the past few months since the assassinations of two leftist politicians—the first political killings to rock the country since the 1950s.

Today, militant Islamist groups, unheard of before the 2010 revolution, battle the country's security forces, leading to almost weekly casualties of police and soldiers.

Ansar al-Shariah, one militant group, has emerged and thrived in the postrevolution chaos.

Thousands of Tunisians took to the streets this week to demand the Ennahda government resign, blaming the party for the country's worsening economy, clampdown on social liberties and deteriorating security.

There is potential for intensified unrest if Prime Minister Larayedh breaks his promise to resign, as he has done before.

If he doesn't live up to his latest commitment to step down in three weeks, the opposition is threatening to intensify demonstrations across the country and organize civil-disobedience campaigns to topple the government.

Protests grew violent on Thursday, when demonstrators burned down two Ennahda offices just outside the capital. Though it wasn't the first outburst of violence, it was an escalation.

Another source of tensions is the new constitution, which Tunisians expected to be finalized in 2012 and is now a year overdue.

The opposition blames Ennahda for violating that time frame in a brazen power grab, which the party denies. The delays have kept the party in power by delaying a transitional government.

"We need the entire system and its laws to be changed," said Amna Guellali, a Tunis-based researcher for Human Rights Watch. "If the national dialogue succeeds, which today seems unlikely, they will be rushing to and focusing on the constitution and electoral law. There won't be any time left to change the penal code and the legal framework to protect issues like freedom of expression."

Critics also say the government has ignored economic prescriptions of the International Monetary Fund, the global lending agency, to make cheap credit available for budding entrepreneurs who can't find work.

Even Ennahda members acknowledge that the country's laws regarding the economy need to be uprooted to achieve the revolution's goals.

"We need an entire new revolution to change these laws. This will take a long time—we have no magic wand," said parliamentarian Mohammed Tahir Tlilili.

Tunisian artists and journalists say the liberties they demanded during the revolution, such as freedom of expression, are still out of reach.

When filmmaker Nasreddine Shili threw an egg at the Minister of Culture during a memorial service in August—hitting the minister on his forehead—he was detained for a month for "defamation" and violating "public morals" among other charges.

A cameraman who filmed the incident and released it on YouTube was also jailed for the same charges.

When journalist Zied el-Heni referred to the case in a TV report last month and disputed the culture minister's version of events—that he had been viciously attacked and needed hospitalization—Mr. el-Heni was detained for accusing the public prosecutor for "fabricating evidence."

"The country's problems have gotten worse under the current president," said 19-year-old Amal Bennani, as she and her friends took a break from their university courses in Tunis to sit on the sidewalk and chat.

Ms. Bennani said she was looking at a bleak future with the only prospect of employment abroad.

"After the revolution we didn't find freedom or jobs. These politicians are serving their own interests" like ousted dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, she said. "But I'll always love Tunisia."