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Shafaq News- Najaf<\/p>\n
Muqtada Al-Sadr, leader of the Patriotic Shiite Movement
\n(PSM), called on Friday for all armed factions in Iraq to be integrated into
\nstate-controlled institutions, stressing that his movement would not take part
\nin the next government.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Al-Sadr said he was prepared to place Saraya<\/a> He further signaled readiness to dissolve Liwa\u2019a al-Yawm Although he did not identify any faction by name, the Al-Sadr addressed Prime Minister-designate Ali Al-Zaidi Read more:Twenty-three years on: Iraq got what the 2003 invasion produced<\/a><\/p>\n Cabinet Formation<\/p>\n On government formation, Al-Sadr said parties with armed \u201cWe do not accept the presence of any member of our movement He adopted a long-running policy of distancing his movement The parliament elected in those polls is now overseeing Prime Minister-designate Al-Zaidi has submitted his
\nal-Salam (Peace Brigades), the PSM\u2019s main armed wing, under the authority of
\nIraq\u2019s commander-in-chief if all other factions do the same \u201cas quickly as
\npossible.\u201d <\/p>\n
\nal-Maw’oud (the Promised Day) Brigade, an elite force established in 2008 after
\nthe disbandment of the Mahdi Army, which fought US-led coalition forces in
\nIraq. Al-Sadr had already ordered the brigade dissolved in November 2021 and
\ninstructed its members to hand over their weapons to the state. Saraya al-Salam
\nitself was suspended for six months in December 2025 after al-Sadr said
\nrepeated violations by members had damaged the group\u2019s reputation.<\/p>\n
\nremarks were widely seen as directed at Iran-backed groups operating under the
\nIslamic Resistance in Iraq umbrella, including Kataib Hezbollah, Asaib Ahl
\nal-Haq, Kataib Sayyed al-Shuhadaa, and Harakat al-Nujaba. Many of these
\nfactions are formally part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a
\npredominantly Shiite umbrella force incorporated into the Iraqi state in 2016,
\nbut they continue to maintain separate command structures and weapons networks
\noutside direct government control.<\/p>\n
\nwithout naming him, saying all armed factions must join either \u201cJund al-Sha’air
\nal-Diniyya\u201d (the Soldiers of Religious Rites), which operates under the Hajj
\nand Umrah Commission linked to the Prime Minister\u2019s Office, or a humanitarian
\nrelief body. Groups that refuse, he warned, would be considered \u201coutside the
\nlaw.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nwings \u201cmust be excluded entirely from the incoming cabinet,\u201d rejecting Iraq\u2019s
\nquota-based political system and calling for a government that answers to the
\npublic rather than political blocs.<\/p>\n
\nin the ministerial cabinet, and no minister would represent the PSM.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nfrom formal political participation. His bloc\u2019s 73 lawmakers resigned from
\nparliament in June 2022, a move he described at the time as a rejection of
\nIraq\u2019s \u201ccorrupt political order.\u201d Al-Sadr later boycotted the November 2025
\nparliamentary elections, warning that Iraq was \u201cliving its final breaths.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nnegotiations to form a new government under Iraq\u2019s muhasasa system, the
\npost-2003 power-sharing arrangement that divides senior positions among the
\ncountry\u2019s main political, ethnic, and sectarian groups.<\/p>\n
\ngovernment program to Parliament Speaker Haibet Al-Halbousi ahead of a planned
\nconfidence vote next week, alongside a 14<\/a>-point ministerial platform outlining
\nthe incoming cabinet\u2019s priorities.<\/p>\n