ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – A senior member of Iraq’s Shiite Sadiqoun bloc said on Thursday that no one can be elected as the country’s next premier without supporting the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), following prime minister-hopeful Nouri al-Maliki’s remarks about having a single Iraqi army the day prior.

“There will be no prime minister unless they support the continued existence of the PMF,” Sadiqoun lawmaker Naeem al-Aboudi, who is also Iraq’s higher education minister, said in a statement, noting that “the stance toward the PMF is considered a true reflection and a benchmark of a candidate’s chances for the premiership.”

His stance comes after State of Law Coalition leader Maliki’s remarks, stressing the importance of "having a single army" under the control of the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi armed forces, which gave rise to media speculation that he would seek to alter the PMF's current status.

Hours later, the Shiite leader and former premier affirmed the role of the PMF within the Iraqi security apparatus and said that their dissolution or integration is not "the priority today."

Confining weapons to institutions under the direct control of the Iraqi state has proved a challenging task, with several PMF groups, including Sadiqoun’s paramilitary wing Asaib Ahl al-Haq, having rebuffed notions of disarmament as illegitimate given the presence of foreign military personnel in the country.

Tensions have previously occurred between the two sides, with the Shiite bloc days ago urging Maliki’s State of Law Coalition to control the narratives emanating from media affiliated with it, calling on them to refrain from "political character assassination.”

Maliki, whose bid to reassume the premiership was hampered by remarks made by US President Donald Trump in which he criticized the Shiite leader’s "insane policies and ideologies," has long been slighted by Washington for being too closely aligned with Iran, a charge also leveled by the US at the PMF.

The Coordination Framework, of which Sadiqoun’s leader Qais al-Khazali is a member, held a meeting days after Trump's words, where it reaffirmed that Maliki will remain its candidate. Figures close to Maliki said, however, that Khazali did not explicitly approve of Maliki's candidacy in the meeting in the wake of the US president's rejection.

The Sadiqoun movement affirmed that political differences, "particularly regarding the nomination of a candidate for Prime Minister, are natural and legitimate," stressing "the necessity for these differences to remain within ethical and legal frameworks, and to refrain from baseless accusations and attempts at political character assassination."

On Saturday evening, the State of Law Coalition released a statement, calling on its affiliates and supporters "to adhere to the spirit of national and professional responsibility in their presentation and expression."

The State of Law Coalition came in third place in Iraq’s recent parliamentary elections, securing 29 seats out of the 329-seat legislature. The other two top parties were the Reconstruction and Development Alliance, led by current Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani, and the Sunni Taqadum Party, led by Halbousi.