Between 22:41 and 23:32 on 16 August, Al-Ahad TV (AAH — official) broadcast at least six segments from its programme Qabl al-Ghad in which two guests — political researcher Khalid Abu Iraq and Salam al-Zubaidi — attacked Falih al-Fayyad's chairmanship of the Popular Mobilization Commission: that his post is ceremonial and political rather than a command, that he lacks the capacity to lead the Hashd, that he took it as an inheritance and violated the martyr al-Muhandis's testament, that he failed to pass on notification of a shelling, and that a former woman minister appointed 1,500 people to the Hashd 'with a stroke of the pen' for Fayyad's electoral list. In the final segment Abu Iraq called the PMF Commission's statement 'political' and said it contradicted the commander-in-chief. The rung holds at credible because the statements are on AAH's own official channel in its own words and are internally consistent across an hour; it does not rise higher because the underlying allegations are uncorroborated and both speakers' factional affiliations are not established in the supplied evidence.
- Al-Ahad TVAAH — official17 Aug, 01:45
“A [woman] deputy appointed 1,500 people in the Hashd with a stroke of the pen, and the appointments were for Fayyad's list.”
هناك نائبة عينت 1500 شخص في الحشد بــ "شخطة قلم" والتعيينات لقائمة الفياض
- Al-Ahad TVAAH — official17 Aug, 01:48
“Al-Fayyad is engaged in politics and violated the testament of the martyr al-Muhandis 100 percent; he has taken the Hashd as if it were an inheritance.”
الفياض منخرط بالسياسة وخالف وصية الشهيد المهندس بنسبة 100% .. ماخذ الحشد وكأنه "ورث"
- Al-Ahad TVAAH — official17 Aug, 02:04
“Al-Fayyad's post is political, and he enters every election to win votes on the heads of the martyrs.”
منصب الفياض "سياسي" ويدخل كل انتخابات لكسب الاصوات براس الشهداء
- Al-Ahad TVAAH — official17 Aug, 02:08
“Al-Fayyad's post is ceremonial and not that of a commander; he does not have the capacity to lead a body like the Hashd.”
منصب الفياض "تشريفي" وليس كقائد.. لا يمتلك القدرة على قيادة هيئة مثل الحشد
- Al-Ahad TVAAH — official17 Aug, 02:23
“Al-Fayyad is an old man; perhaps sleep took him and he did not pass on notification of the shelling.”
الفياض رجل كبير بالعمر.. يجوز "أخذته النومة" وما بلّغ بالقصف
- Al-Ahad TVAAH — official17 Aug, 02:32
“The Popular Mobilization Commission's statement is 'political', and he denied the commander-in-chief's account.”
بيان هيئة الحشد الشعبي "سياسي" ونفى حديث القائد العام
The attack is aimed at the two things that make a PMF chairmanship worth holding — command authority and control of appointments — and it is being run on the official channel of a faction that itself fields PMF brigades and an electoral bloc.