Iraq’s parliament was presented on Sunday with the text of a proposed law to rehabilitate purged members of the Ba’ath party, the furthest it has yet progressed on passing a series of legislation that Washington says is key to reconciling the country’s feuding factions.

But lawmakers from the radical Shia Sadrist movement denounced the bill as too soft on members of the party that once ruled the country under Saddam Hussein, indicating the government of Nouri al-Maliki, prime minister, will have a difficult time getting the legislation approved.