Iraq's speaker rejects Shia militia’s participation in elections

Iraqi Parliament Speaker Salim Al-Jubouri yesterday called for the Shia Popular Mobilisation Forces not to be allowed to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections, saying it is a military body according to the law.

“There is a need to distinguish between political and military practices so that the electoral process does not include those who use weapons to apply the law,” Al-Jubouri told a press conference at the parliament building in Baghdad.

The official warned of what he called “intimidation practices used by those carrying arms in the liberated areas to lobby the population during the upcoming electoral process.”

He said that all the displaced people should return to their areas before the next parliamentary elections scheduled for mid-May.

HRW: Iraq Shia militias committing more rights abuses

The Popular Mobilisation Forces were formed during Daesh’s invasion of the north and west of the country in the summer of 2014.

The militias participated in the military operations launched by the Iraqi government to restore control of the areas captured.