"If you keep silence, you will die. If you talk, you will die. I'd rather speak and die," a former Iraqi ruling Baathist, who identified himself as Saqar, told Xinhua on eve of the Jan. 30 elections.

Saqar, 35, believed what happened in Iraq was sheer humiliation. He said that those Iraqi exiles who returned to the country with US forces were pursuing their own interest rather than national interest.

Like Saqar, many of the disbanded Baath Party members are shunning participation in Jan. 30 election as they say elections under occupation lack legitimacy.

"We have suffered years and years of agony under sanctions imposed by the US and British regimes," said a former Baathist named himself Abu Muhammed.

"Over two million innocent people died waiting for a light at the end of the tunnel, but that only ended with occupation and theft of our resources.

"We have chosen our future of struggle and resistance. It is our duty to fight the occupation forces whose countries will be morally and economically responsible for what their elected governments have destroyed and stolen from our land," he said angrily.

"We have not crossed the oceans and seas to occupy Britain or the United States, nor are we responsible for Sep. 11 incident. These are only a few lies by those criminals to cover their plans for control of energy sources around the world," Abu Muhammed said.

"It is ridiculous to see Iraqis have to face the unfolding conflicts on behalf of the rest of the sleeping world," he added.

Many Baathists believe that elections would deepen the division between Iraqi sectors and even lead to split of the country.

While the US insisted on holding the elections as planned, many Iraqis said that time was not right to hold elections at this moment and that the elections would not be in Iraqi interest.

There are three different kinds of former Baathists in Iraq with respect to their view of the country's first elections after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Some vigorously reject voting which they consider is treason, deploring that participation may grant the occupation legitimacy. They believe Saddam Hussein is the only elected leader of Iraq and that the war was illegal and resistance the only way to defeat the occupiers and their Iraqi allies.

Others thought it was Saddam who was to blame for US invasion in 2003.

"Saddam was responsible for the occupation of Iraq, and his regime made a series of mistakes which plunged the country into endless chaos," said a former party official who refused to be identified.

However, they were discouraged by government's discrimination because of their link to former regime and they boycotted the elections to protest.

The rest joined other parties after the war but they remain concerned about the elections.

"The elections is taking place in a security vacuum. Iraqi security forces are unable to check crime and lawlessness even in relatively calm areas," said a former Baathist.

Source: Xinhua