ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has taken a major step regarding the long-overdue local government polls in the federal capital by fixing the case for hearing on October 21 to issue the Islamabad local body elections schedule.
The decision comes amid continued legislative delay, as the federal government has yet to complete the required legislative framework for local body governance in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).
Due to the absence of fresh legislation, the ECP is actively deliberating on conducting the polls under the previous local government law.
To move the process forward, the Commission decided to issue formal notices to the Secretary of the Ministry of Interior and the Chief Commissioner of Islamabad.
Although the final delimitation lists for the local government constituencies have already been published, legal complexities arose following the expiry of the local government ordinance.
The upcoming October 21 hearing remains crucial to resolving these legal hurdles and finalizing the Islamabad local body elections schedule.
Historical Overview of Local Body Elections in Islamabad
The capital city of Pakistan has historically experienced an uneven trajectory regarding decentralized local governance.
For nearly five decades following its establishment in 1960, Islamabad lacked a fully empowered, directly elected municipal government, relying instead on bureaucratic administration through the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the ICT Administration.
While various local government laws were framed over the decades—such as the ICT Local Government Ordinance of 2002—meaningful democratic local elections remained unfulfilled for years.
The breakthrough occurred with the enactment of the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Act (ICTLGA) of 2015. This historic legislation paved the way for the capital’s first-ever direct party-based local body elections in November 2015, leading to the creation of the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) and the election of Islamabad’s inaugural Mayor in 2016.
However, since the MCI completed its five-year tenure in February 2021, holding fresh municipal elections has faced continuous postponements.
Repeated attempts to conduct polls have been stalled by frequent legislative revisions, changes in the number of Union Councils (expanding from 50 to 101, and later 125), re-delimitation mandates, structural reorganizations, and overlapping ordinances.
ALSO READ: Election Commission Proposes Local Government Elections in Punjab on December 14
As a result, residents of the federal capital continue to wait for an empowered, elected local administration to manage municipal services and local governance.
