Alwaght- The Iraqi parliament is busy handling one of its most sensitive security and political cases: Debating a new law for the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a military institution that was recognized as part of the Iraqi armed forces in 2016 and now it is undergoing fundamental reforms to establish an independent structure and identity.
The parliament completed a report and debate on Wednesday about the draft law on the PMF, according to a short statement published by the press office of the parliament. It voted to add several points to the agenda of the Wednesday session.
The parliament sources have confirmed that the law on the reconstruction of the PMF, called Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic, will continue its path to approval in the Iraqi parliament after completing its first and second sessions. This is despite some Kurdish and Sunni factions objecting to its content, and the parties supporting the law have described these objections as “unfounded.”
Key points of new draft law: A step beyond the 2016 recognition
If passed, the law would replace the existing Popular Mobilization Forces Law of 2016, which aims to legalize and eliminate political and legal avenues for pressure on the anti-terror voluntary force to disband.
The new law includes important and fundamental reforms. One of the main reasons that prompted the political factions supporting the PMF to seek a new law for it is that the previous law was a brief law that was passed in a hurry, contained only three articles, and lacked sufficient details. For example, the law of 2016 did not include sufficient detail on the conditions of recruitment of the forces or their administrative structure. To address this gap, work began on issuing a “Service and Retirement Law.”
On the other hand, the membership and formations of the PMF have expanded significantly since its founding, making the need to review its codified laws inevitable. According to Iraqi media, the number of members has increased from 122,000 to 238,000, and the budget has exceeded $3.4 billion in 2024.
The most important parts of these reforms are:
The PMF are linked to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and have no administrative links with the Ministries of Defense and Interior. The head of the forces has the rank of minister. This will be seen as a step forward against growing calls to integrate the PMF into the ministries of defense and interior, which seek to disband these forces through a merger plan.
Establishing a “Popular Mobilization Academy” to provide trained officers for the PMF. This clause is certainly based on the unique and professional tasks and tasks defined in the military and security structure of the country’s armed forces for the PMF, and this force, given its long experience and history of confronting asymmetric threats and terrorism, requires specialized training based on its main mission areas.
The PMF will have an independent budget that will be provided from the federal general budget, the organization’s revenues, public donations, and other sources.
Until the adoption of the Special Service and Retirement Law for the PMF (due to the cancellation of the vote on the Popular Mobilization Forces Service and Retirement Law in parliament due to US pressure), members of these forces are subject to the provisions of military laws and civilian employees.
Prior to the issuance of this draft law, members of the PMF are exempt from the age and certification requirements specified in the Military Service and Retirement Law (so that they are not dismissed for exceeding the legal age or not having an educational qualification).
This clause was included in the draft because the new law includes a mandatory retirement age clause that, if implemented, would force many leaders and members of the PMF to retire. If this exemption were not for it, Faleh al-Fayyadh, 68, the PMF commander, along with 180 other senior leaders, could be forced to retire, which would effectively leave Iraq’s military and security management capacity with a large vacuum of military commanders and strategists.
US objection and risk of heavier pressures
As predicted, the parliamentary motion to strengthen the position of the PMF in the country’s defense structure was immediately met with objection of the White House officials as it runs counter to the major American strategies in Iraq and the region which are based on containing yjr Axis of Resistance and securing the Israeli interests. The state department described the draft law as contrary to the “strategic relations” between Washington and Tehran.
According to the Al-Jabaal news, the US State Department spokesperson stressed on Monday, July 21, that the country “strongly opposes any legislation that contradicts the objectives of our bilateral security assistance and partnership and that undermines Iraq’s existing security institutions and the country’s true sovereignty.”
He added: "This bill legitimizes armed groups that are linked to terrorist institutions and leaders, including those who have attacked American interests and killed American citizens.” He clarified that “this measure is not helpful in any way.”
The White House did not stop at just expressing opposition and threatened the Iraqi government with possible punitive measures.
Earlier, Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani, the speaker of the Iraqi House of Representatives, said that the “US threats” against the country, which, according to him, “prevented the introduction of the popular mobilization law in parliament.” He warned that Iraq was on the verge of a security crisis.
In a television interview covered by Al-Jabaal, Al-Mashhadani said: “Some want to remove al-Fayyadh from the leadership of the organization based on the retirement law, while we are on the verge of a security crisis and we should not play with the settings of the security apparatus.”
He noted that "America has sent messages to all political leaders about the Popular Mobilization Forces, and Washington’s threats have prevented this law from being proposed in parliament.” He added: “America wants the integration of the Popular Mobilization Forces into the security forces, not its independent structure.”
The speaker of the Iraqi parliament went on to point out the warnings about targeting the commanders of this organization, and by revealing the role of the Israeli regime, he emphasized: “The Israeli regime believes that Iraq is a threat to the process of normalizing relations.”
It seems that one of the main ways for the US to exert pressure is through financial leverage and the dollar. The US has previously tried to pressure the government by blocking payments to the PMF personnel through electronic payment companies. So the pressure on the Iraqi government to limit the PMF budget may increase. The Iraqi economy, which is heavily dependent on oil revenues, which are managed through the US Federal Reserve, is vulnerable to such pressures.
Despite these threats, the Shiite Coordination Framework (SCF), which includes a coalition of political forces that hold the parliament, announced on Tuesday its decision to advance the draft law related to PMF, adding that it would not give in to US pressure.
In this regard, Amer al-Fayyadh, one of the senior figures in the coalition, said in an interview with the Al-Jabaal: “An agreement has been reached to consider the Popular Mobilization Forces law an internal issue and not allow foreign forces to interfere in stopping it.”
He added: “Of course, internal opposition is still present and we hope that dialogue will be formed between political forces on this issue.”
Internal reactions; from Shiite support to Kurds and Sunni skepticism
From the beginning of the SCF’s planning to revise the PMF law, it was clear that the opposition would hamper this path. The opposition has so far been so great that it has not allowed the bill to be introduced in parliament with the withdrawal of opposition representatives and the lack of a quorum in parliament.
The opponents, who are not united, have cited different reasons for their opposition. Among these are that the new law could lead to increased influence of factions within the PMF and their influence on the political decision-making process of the Iraqi government. Or that, given that the PMF are mainly composed of Shiite armed factions, this law could lead to an escalation of sectarian differences, which will increase tensions between different sects in Iraq.
In addition, some, in line with the US obstructionism, acknowledge that the new law may raise concerns among some countries in the region, such as the Persian Gulf Arab monarchies, and also affect relations with Washington.
The US argues that these reforms will strengthen pro-Iranian factions, which is a sensitive issue for relations between Baghdad and Washington.
In response to this criticism, the SCF condemns “American interference” in the process of approving the new law, which is considered interference in Iraq’s internal affairs, and describes the criticism of opponents of the plan “baseless” and indifferent to Iraq’s security and political interests, especially in the current turbulent period in the region.
In this regard, Mukhtar al-Musawi, a member of parliament from the coalition, said: “We are determined to approve this law in future sessions of the parliament.” He added: “The Popular Mobilization Forces are an official institution and, like other Iraqi security and military institutions, they must have a specific law and structure. We reject any intervention by the United States or others in this regard. The statements of the US State Department are unacceptable and a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.”
Scenario of turning PMF into National Guard
But while the SCF have shown a firm determination to advance to pass the new law, one of the scenarios that has been frequently raised in the Iraqi media in recent days as an alternative US and opposition plan is the attempt to transform the PMF into a supporting institution for the ministries of defense and the interior under the name of the “National Guard.”
According to political experts, this model, which exists in the US and Saudi Arabia, continues to contemplate the merger and dissolution of the PMF under a new name and mechanism. Accordingly, the National Guard force could have more weapons capacity than the ministry of interior (police) and less than the ministry of defense (army). This force could support the ministry of interior in internal security crises and the ministry of defense in external threats, and would be subject to the same military laws and regulations as the army and police. However, it seems unlikely that the SCF will support the plan as it would require major changes to the initial draft submitted to parliament.
Chances of adoption of the PMF draft law
The challenges arising from political divisions within Iraq are among the most important factors determining the future scenario of the PMF in the face of external pressures. The most important of these pressures may be economic, political or even military measures.
However, it should be noted that the PMF played a decisive role in the defeat of ISIS terrorist group from 2014 to 2017, which brought it considerable popularity in the Iraqi society. In recent years, some opponents of the PMF have acknowledged that with the decline of the terrorist threat from ISIS, the PMF is facing the challenge of redefining its role, but recent developments in the region, especially the rise of takfiri groups in Syria and the resurgence of remnants and released prisoners of ISIS and other militias associated with these groups, this danger has returned to Iraq’s stability and security.
On the other hand, the Kurdish opposition to the new PMF law can be seen as part of a legal bargaining tactic in parliament that can be quickly resolved with an agreement on the issue of employee salaries and the payment of the annual budget. In recent months, relations between the central government and Kurdistan region have been tense and challenging over the issues of paying salaries to Kurdistan government employees and the oil sales case.
In this regard, Aref al-Hamami, a member of parliament from the SCF, revealed that “the Kurdish blocs, due to wider differences with the ruling parliamentary coalition for the administration of state affairs, deliberately broke the quorum in the session dedicated to reading the PMF draft law,” and accused them of “trying to abuse specific laws to make illegal financial gains.”
It is also clear on the Sunni front that views are not unified. Al-Mashhadani himself, as the speaker of parliament and leader of the Sunni coalition, has a soft stance on the passage of this law, as mentioned above. Certainly, the spread of takfiri threats in Syria has initially set off the alarm bells for Sunni citizens living in the western provinces bordering Syria, and the people of these areas have serious concerns about the consequences of security and military weakness.
In this connection, Qassem al-Tamimi, a political researcher, told Al-Malouma news outlet that the PMF account for the key part of the Iraqi security apparatus and played a pivotal role in defeating ISIS and liberating territories. “They made great sacrifices to protect the country,” he added.
“The rejection of this law by Kurds and Sunnis is not based on clear justifications and is often motivated by the desire to wrest concessions in exchange for the passage of laws that affect their interests.” He noted that “given the almost complete consensus in Shiite society on its importance, Shiite blocs are able to pass this law independently.”
“After discussion, consideration and reading in parliament, this law is now ready for voting. The only thing left is a majority vote in the next session,” Moein al-Kadhimi, a SCF member, told Al-Malouma. He held that “there is a possibility of reaching the quorum with the presence of more than 165 representatives, which will allow us to approve this law and move towards approving the service and retirement law for the Popular Mobilization Forces.”
He noted that some MPs that withdrew since the second session of reading the draft law justified themselves by claiming that this law was not put on the parliament agenda previously. He added that “this law is now considered politically passed.”
