Al-Zaidi to send amended PMF bills to parliament after US visit
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi will submit an amended Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) legislative package to parliament as soon as he returns from his visit to the United States, an informed source told Shafaq News on Tuesday.
The package comprises two draft laws: one restructuring the PMF Commission* and another governing service and retirement. Both have been revised following observations from parliamentary blocs and political forces, the source said.
One provision still requires amendment or redrafting. It concerns the legal retirement age of the PMF chairman and the authority to extend his tenure. Under the current draft, decisions to extend or renew the chairman’s tenure, or send him into retirement, rest with the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, a role held by the prime minister.
The proposed amendment would instead allow the prime minister to grant the chairman a single extension of no more than two years, with no further renewal, according to the source.
The source also reported broad political agreement to give the PMF chairman the status of a minister without portfolio while leaving the commission’s official name unchanged.
The two amended drafts are close to being submitted to parliament after contentious provisions were removed, the source said. Some provisions had faced “a US veto.” Once submitted, the bills would begin the formal legislative process.
Read more: Iraq's PMF Service and Retirement Law: Is political exploitation inevitable?
Last week, Iskandar Witwit, a member of parliament’s Security and Defense Committee, said lawmakers were awaiting the amended legislation and that al-Zaidi had promised to send it to parliament once the revisions were complete.
*The Popular Mobilization Commission (PMC) was established by the Council of Ministers in 2014, while Law No. 40 of 2016 formally recognized the PMF as an independent military formation within Iraq’s armed forces. The Commission administers the PMF, including its salaries, training, equipment, and organizational affairs.
