For many years "Arab nationalism and party politics superseded" Shia unity in Iraqi politics, and Shia ayatollahs were not politically active. The Shia were generally less well-off economically and socially, and as a result, they supported leftist parties. In 1963, when the Arab-nationalist and socialist Ba'ath Party seized power in a coup, 53 percent of its membership was Shia. The Shia were shunted aside (by 1968, only six percent of the Ba'ath party were Shia), and turned back to the ulama for leadership.