ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has finally announced local government elections in the federal capital on 15th February next year.
A notification issued by the electoral body on Tuesday suggested that the public notices inviting nominations for the LG elections in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) would be issued on 19th December 2025, while the polling would be held on 15 February 2026.
The ICT LG term expired on 14 February 2021, but the electoral body failed to hold the LG elections in the ICT within the 120-day stipulated period under Section 219(4) of the Elections Act 2017.
This law provides that the ECP shall hold LG elections within 120 days of the expiry of the local governments’ term in a province, cantonment, or ICT.
Keeping this in view, the ECP was required to hold the LG elections in the ICT by June 2021.
On 18 November, the ECP announced to hold LG elections in the federal capital “immediately,” and directed its secretariat to issue the LG polls schedule forthwith. Still, the related schedule has been issued after almost three weeks.
On 8th August last year, the poll body formally announced the holding of the LG polls in the ICT on 29th September, last year, and issued the related schedule. On 20th August, the ECP revised the ICT LG polls date to 9th October 2024, saying the decision was taken on the request of different political parties and candidates.
However, following the passage of the ICT Local Government (Amendment) Act 2024 by the Parliament in August last year, the ECP on 4th September 2024, decided to hold in abeyance the ICT LG elections’ schedule “till further orders.”
In view of this law, the number of general members in each union council in the ICT is required to be increased from six to nine. Given that each general ward has one general member, the number of general wards in each of the 125 union councils is required to be increased from 750 to 1125 wards, with the creation of 375 new general wards for holding the LG elections, unless this law is amended, it is learnt.
Presently, the local bodies are in place in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and cantonments, but LG elections in Punjab and the federal capital have been facing an inordinate delay since 2021.
The local bodies’ term in Punjab expired on 31 December 2021.
The ECP has repeatedly said in official statements that “whenever” it finalises the LG polls’ preparations, the LG laws are amended by the governments concerned, causing a delay in the elections.
Article 218(3) of the Constitution provides that it shall be the ECP’s duty to organise and conduct the elections, and to make such arrangements as are necessary, to ensure that an election is conducted honestly, justly, fairly, and in accordance with law, and that corrupt practices are guarded against.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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