KRG debates Iraqi Parliament’s compulsory military service bill

Kurdistan’s MPs are now debating the issue as part of wider proposed legislation by Iraq’s Parliament. Compulsory service could institutionalise the Peshmarga force and make it more national.

The Peshmarga is legally part of Iraq’s national defense system. When the Baath rule came to an end in the Kurdistan Region in the 1990s the name of the military was changed to Peshmarga and service became voluntary.

Any stipulated period of compulsory military service has yet to be decided. The move certainly has its critics, with some officials saying this goes against freedom and democracy.

Unification of Peshmarga troops is ongoing. Soldiers used to be divided according to their allegiance to the Kurdistan Region’s two ruling parties. Critics say that out-dated weaponry hinder growth and professionalisation of the Peshmarga.

Estimates vary, but Kurdistan’s Peshmarga committee says there are between 100,000 to 120,000 Peshmarga soldiers in the region.

Kurdistan’s Finance Ministry claimed that Baghdad has not paid Kurdistan’s Peshmarga budget. The Finance Ministry says the unpaid Peshmarga budget amounts to an estimated $5.1bn over several years.

Talk of compulsory military service comes as the number of Kurds in the national Iraqi army is at a record low since before 2003. Kurdish MPs in Iraq’s Parliament say Kurds currently make up fewer than four percent of the Iraqi army. But Kurds are entitled to a 17-percent share of posts in Iraq’s army.