ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq's government will submit the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) law to parliament for approval, Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi announced, after the bill had stalled since early 2025 amid strong US opposition. This as PMF Chairman Falih al-Fayyadh separately said the legislation would be sent to the legislature "within two weeks" following amendments.
“The Popular Mobilization Forces [PMF] enjoy the attention and care of the [Zaidi-led] government, which will proceed with submitting the PMF law for approval, given that the force constitutes part of the formations and branches of [Iraq's] armed forces,” Zaidi said, according to a statement released by his office late Thursday.
Zaidi made the remarks during a meeting with a parliamentary delegation affiliated with Badr Organization, one of the PMF's key constituent factions, the statement added.
“Iraq is entering a new phase of development following the completion of requirements related to defending its sovereignty,” the Iraqi premier added.
The PMF was established in 2014 during the Islamic State (ISIS) blitz across Iraq, which saw the group seize large swaths of the country's northern and western territories.
Created in response to a fatwa, a religious edict, by Iraq’s highest Shiite authority Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the PMF was initially an umbrella organization of roughly 70 predominantly Shiite armed groups, with approximately 250,000 members.
In 2016, parliament passed a law providing a legal framework for the PMF. However, the legislation comprised only three articles, leaving crucial operational and structural details unaddressed and creating lasting ambiguity over the force's integration into Iraq's broader security apparatus.
In early 2025, the former Iraqi government - then led by former Iraqi premier Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani - introduced a new PMF law aimed at resolving those gaps. The bill completed its first reading in parliament in March and a second reading in July of 2025.
However, intense political friction - including disagreements among Shiite factions over a proposed mandatory retirement age of 60 for PMF members, which would have forced out a number of veteran commanders including PMF Chairman Fayyadh - along with sustained US pressure over Iranian influence concerns, caused the vote to be repeatedly postponed until this day.
Fayyadh on Thursday confirmed that Zaidi is set to submit the PMF law to parliament "soon, following the completion of certain amendments," the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA) quoted the PMF chairman as saying.
"The [new] PMF law covering service, retirement, and organizational structure will be submitted within the next two weeks," he said, further pointing to "the process of [political] disengagement from the PMF," which he said "must proceed according to well-studied plans and a safe transition that guarantees the stability of the institution."
Zaidi in early June ordered the formation of a committee to oversee the implementation of measures aimed at disengaging political parties and armed factions from the PMF. The move came amid a wider effort by the premier to bring paramilitary groups and their arms under state control.
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