Iraq's Parliament has called off an emergency session over a contentious decision on the participation in elections of hundreds of candidates with suspected ties to former dictator Saddam's Baath party.

According to IRIB, Iraqi Deputy Parliament Speaker Khaled al-Attiya said the lawmakers canceled the session after receiving a letter from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who assured that the judges would complete the appeals process by February 12, when official campaigning for the ballot begins.

The judges decided on Wednesday to lift a ban on the participations of around 500 candidates in the country's vote, saying they would examine their files after March 7 polls and would exclude them if they were found to be Baathists.

However, according to the letter, Maliki said to defer the appeals process until after the elections "represented a threat to the political process and to democracy."