Open-ended sit-in for PMF law to begin in Basra on Tuesday

BASRA — A campaign group will begin an open-ended sit-in outside the Popular Mobilization Forces headquarters in Basra on Sept. 1, saying it will continue until parliament passes legislation governing the force — 29 days before the government’s deadline for bringing all weapons under state control.

Tribal sheikhs, religious figures and members of the public will take part, said Mujtaba al-Mansouri, spokesperson for the Popular Movement for the Passage of the Popular Mobilization Forces Law. The group wants the law passed “without external pressure or political disputes,” he said, and has collected signatures and pledges from lawmakers supporting it. “The sit-in will continue until the law is passed,” he said, adding that it could move elsewhere if parties do not respond.

The same demand is already being pressed from several directions. Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada listed a PMF law protecting fighters’ rights, salaries and service status among the 10 conditions it set on Saturday for engaging with the weapons policy. Reconstruction and Development Bloc MP Mansour al-Ba’iji said last week that parliament was drafting legislation to preserve factions’ rights and allowances if they hand over weapons, and State of Law lawmaker Duha al-Qasir called on the government to send PMF legislation to parliament.

An earlier bill collapsed a year ago. It reached a second reading in July 2025 before many Sunni and Kurdish lawmakers walked out over its inclusion on the agenda without consensus, and the government withdrew it in August after warnings from rival blocs and international partners. Then-Deputy Speaker Mohsen al-Mandalawi said it would replace the 2016 law and better define the force’s structure, authorities and affiliated entities, while granting its head the powers to implement it. Then-U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Steven Fagin warned that legislating the PMF and its governing body could institutionalise Iranian influence and strengthen armed groups.

It is not clear whether the campaigners want that draft revived or a new one, or when a bill might return to parliament.