Until 2003 he was general-secretary of the left, anti-Barzani, pro-Iraqi wing of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). He followed Hashim Aqrawi, who had split up that KDP wing and joined the Baath-led National Progressive Front. In 2000 president Saddam Hussein appointed al-Atrushi for the constituency of Dohuk in the fifth legislative term of the National Assembly.