BAGHDAD — The possible participation of armed factions under the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMU) in the local elections that are scheduled to take place in April 2017 and the parliamentary elections in 2018 has sparked huge controversy in Iraq. As a result, Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission announced Aug. 28 that it would not include any political entity registered under the PMU in the elections, as the latter is a military organization that is connected to the security apparatus, affiliated with the state and obeys the commander in chief of the armed forces.

Most armed factions have not hidden their intention to participate in the electoral race and for their members to join parliament and even take part in forming the Iraqi government. Some of these factions think their battle against the Islamic State (IS), the blood their members have shed in that fight and their defense of the country must be rewarded with political representation.

The escalated tone about the PMU’s participation in the local and parliamentary elections has stirred the concerns of well-established political parties in the government. As a result of the massive publicity surrounding the PMU, some of its factions such as the Badr Organization, Hezbollah Brigades and others found themselves receiving greater amounts of support from Iraqis after being depicted as the only forces that managed to expel IS from regions under its control in June 2014.

On Aug. 27, Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of the Sadrist movement, best described the participation of the PMU in politics and in the elections. He said that throwing Shiite faction fighters combating IS onto the political scene is “suicide for the political process” in Iraq. Sadr’s statement was an answer to the question of one of his followers about the electoral committee’s registration of entities that include PMU factions. He said, “Such nominations will mix jihad in politics and will tarnish the reputation of jihad and jihadis and turn the government into a military or militia one.” He added, “Involving jihadis who lack political expertise will be suicidal for the political process.”