Habib Bourguiba the transgressive nature of many of Bourguiba's gestures, particularly in women's status. Furthermore, Jean Daniel mentioned a conversation between Bourguiba and Jacques Berque about Islam. For Bourguiba, religion, associated to the Destourian party, had historically favored the colonization of Tunisia. On the other hand, Charfi opposed this idea, stating that the undeniable break carried out by Bourguiba occurred more with traditional society than with Islam, as such. Bourguiba was very critical of the veil, on various occasions referring to it as "that odious rag". During the time Bourguiba was president, education was a high priority, as he reformed the total
Habib Bourguiba August, declared: "I am for the review of the Constitution so that all candidates who wish can run for office freely". Bourguiba carried out his promises with the legalization of two new political parties, on 19 November 1983: The Movement of Socialist Democrats and the Popular Unity Party, former allies of Ben Salah. A fall in the price of oil towards the end of 1983 reduced the revenue of the Tunisian state, which was already struggling to meet rising expenses. President Bourguiba agreed to seek a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF loan was conditional on government