PMF bill stalls as factions dodge responsibility before election

The controversy surrounding the Popular Mobilization Commission bill has generated a flood of conflicting reports about its fate, with some local outlets insisting that the government has withdrawn the legislation, even though parliament’s records continue to show it under consideration.

What is becoming clearer, however, is that the bill will not move forward in the current legislative term. Across the political spectrum there seems to be a broad understanding that approving the bill before the November elections would be highly destabilizing, given explicit American warnings about the consequences of passing it. Yet no party wants to bear the political cost of acknowledging this openly.