Iraqi Communist Party - The Party Under Qasim, 1958-1963

The Party Under Qasim, 1958-1963

The relationship between the party and Qasim was not an easy one. By the summer of 1959 the party had approximately 20,000 - 25,000 members. This, added to their ability to mobilise the masses and their penetration of the workforces in strategic industries, made Qasim fear the party's growing power. In July 1959, he ordered a minor crackdown on the party. It was unsure how to react. Some elements, around first secretary Husain al-Radi (also known as Salam 'Adil), suggested launching a coup, but the more conservative elements opposed this. In fact the party would continue to support Qasim, more or less critically, up until his overthrow in February 1963. In the last two years of his rule, Qasim greatly weakened the party by suppressing largely or completely most of its flanking organisations, including the Democratic Youth Federation and workers' and students' unions. By the time of the 1963 coup the increasing unpopularity of Qasim, with whom the Communists were still linked in the public mind, coupled with the repressive measures he had adopted against them, had contributed to reducing the party's membership to under 10,000.