PMF Authority Law Draft Reaches Parliament, Risking a Permanent Parallel Force Even as Disarmament Deadline Looms

Iraq's Parliamentary Security and Defense Committee finalized the draft PMF Authority Law and submitted it to parliament's presidency in late August 2026, with lawmakers gathering signatures to force the Speaker's office to schedule a vote. PMF chairman Faleh Fayyad said PM Ali al-Zaidi was expected to formally submit the bill 'within two weeks' after final amendments covering service, retirement, and organizational structure. The legislation would upgrade the PMF from the single-page 2016 law establishing it as a temporary prime-ministerial commission into a permanent state institution with a multi-billion-dollar annual budget and largely unchanged leadership — including factions whose commanders are US-designated terrorists. Analysts including Michael Knights (Washington Institute/Horizon Engage) warned the bill risks entrenching Iran-backed militias as a permanent parallel force at the very moment Zaidi is publicly demanding they disarm by September 30, a contradiction that has fueled a dueling television and social-media campaign in which the government's disarmament messaging is countered by militia-aligned mockery and warnings of civil conflict.