The Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) in Iraq exist within a political and religious framework that make it difficult for the Iraqi state to control the group. Some Iraqis are asking if it would be possible for the Iraqi parliament to appoint the PMU's presidential body and brigade commanders, as is the case with other Iraqi security and military institutions.

After several PMU warehouses mysteriously exploded this past month, a crisis interrupted in Iraq, exposing divisions within the PMU, in particular the split between the PMU chief Falah al-Fayyad and its deputy chief, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

The split between Fayyad and Muhandis has renewed the push toward parliamentary appointments within the PMU, contrary to the mode of operations over the past five years. Currently, the PMU presidential body appoints commanders based on state, ideological and political grounds, without consulting parliament. 

“Once the PMU is restructured, PMU commanders will be appointed by parliament," Iraqi politician Ihsan al-Shammari said Aug. 27. "The PMU law issued in 2016 has been harmonized with military laws. What is applied to the Iraqi army now applies to the PMU.”