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In this episode of Unfinished Stories, Rudaw’s Hevidar Ahmed examines Iraq’s proposed law to restructure the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi), exploring the debate over its impact on Iraq’s security, democracy, and relations with the United States.
“The PMF bill will be passed - and it will pass in spite of the US’s wishes,” Habib al-Halawi, head of the Sadiqoun parliamentary bloc, told Rudaw in early August.
Washington has expressed concerns about the bill that would organize the Popular Mobilization Commission (PMC) - a government board created to bring the PMF under state control - and formalize the PMF’s structure, salaries, and retirement benefits. It is a politically sensitive issue given the PMF’s central role in Iraq’s security framework and the political influence it wields.
“No, we are not afraid of the US. We are the ones who drove the Americans out of Iraq,” Halawi said in response to US efforts to lobby against the bill.
The Sadiqoun bloc is affiliated with the Iran-backed Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), which is part of the PMF and is designated as a terrorist organization by the US. AAH’s leader Qais al-Khazali is a senior member of the Shiite-led Coordination Framework, a key component of Iraq’s governing coalition. In March, AAH and the State of Law Coalition boycotted a parliamentary session after the PMF bill was excluded from the agenda, forcing its postponement.
Halawi defined the PMF as “a military, security, and intelligence force” with its “own security and intelligence apparatuses.”
“No, it is not a state within a state because the PMF is a security agency that operates under the authority of the prime minister,” he said, condemning “accusations spewed against” the PMF.
The bill has divided lawmakers.
“We believe that any weapon held by a political party is a weapon turned against democracy, against stability, and against statecraft,” Muthana Amin, a Kurdish lawmaker in the Iraqi parliament from the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), told Rudaw.
The PMF was formed in 2014 after revered Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a call to arms in response to the Islamic State’s (ISIS) rapid territorial gains.
“Our problem is that they want to give legal cover to an entity Iraq no longer needs. And in doing so, it threatens two things: the state itself, and democracy,” Amin said. “The other problem is transferring weapons and authority into the hands of groups, parties, and some religious figures that don’t answer back to the state.”
“The PMF bill will be passed - and it will pass in spite of the US’s wishes,” Habib al-Halawi, head of the Sadiqoun parliamentary bloc, told Rudaw in early August.
Washington has expressed concerns about the bill that would organize the Popular Mobilization Commission (PMC) - a government board created to bring the PMF under state control - and formalize the PMF’s structure, salaries, and retirement benefits. It is a politically sensitive issue given the PMF’s central role in Iraq’s security framework and the political influence it wields.
“No, we are not afraid of the US. We are the ones who drove the Americans out of Iraq,” Halawi said in response to US efforts to lobby against the bill.
The Sadiqoun bloc is affiliated with the Iran-backed Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), which is part of the PMF and is designated as a terrorist organization by the US. AAH’s leader Qais al-Khazali is a senior member of the Shiite-led Coordination Framework, a key component of Iraq’s governing coalition. In March, AAH and the State of Law Coalition boycotted a parliamentary session after the PMF bill was excluded from the agenda, forcing its postponement.
Halawi defined the PMF as “a military, security, and intelligence force” with its “own security and intelligence apparatuses.”
“No, it is not a state within a state because the PMF is a security agency that operates under the authority of the prime minister,” he said, condemning “accusations spewed against” the PMF.
The bill has divided lawmakers.
“We believe that any weapon held by a political party is a weapon turned against democracy, against stability, and against statecraft,” Muthana Amin, a Kurdish lawmaker in the Iraqi parliament from the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), told Rudaw.
The PMF was formed in 2014 after revered Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a call to arms in response to the Islamic State’s (ISIS) rapid territorial gains.
“Our problem is that they want to give legal cover to an entity Iraq no longer needs. And in doing so, it threatens two things: the state itself, and democracy,” Amin said. “The other problem is transferring weapons and authority into the hands of groups, parties, and some religious figures that don’t answer back to the state.”
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