Habib Bourguiba the meeting, Bourguiba was sent to Paris to set forth the platform of the party. In France, he became close to the Tunisian nationalist students such as Habib Thameur, Hédi Nouira and Slimane Ben Slimane. Furthermore, he met under-secretary of state for foreign affairs, Pierre Viénot, on 6 July 1936. This publicly stated interview was unpopular among the French colonialists in Tunisia, which led later meetings to be conducted secretly. But French authorities were opposed to the hopes of Tunisian militants, and some of them even thought that it was a mere illusion. When he returned to Tunis, in September,
Habib Bourguiba Bourguiba decided to react by sabotaging Thaalbi's meetings. In Mateur, the fight ended with numerous deaths and injured but Bourguiba succeeded in strengthening his positions and appearing as the unique leader of the nationalist movement, rejecting, once and for all Pan-Arabism and anti-occidentalism. The split up was, therefore, final between both parties. Fearing attacks, the Destourian party gave up public meetings, using newspapers to respond their opponents. However, Bourguiba chose moderation regarding the relation with France. Meanwhile, within the party, two factions appeared: The first one, moderate, was led by El Materi, Guiga and Sfar, favoring dialogue while the second