ISLAMABAD: The local government (LG) elections in Islamabad are likely to face yet another delay despite the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announcing election schedule, as lawmakers from the ruling party on Monday demanded its postponement.
The demand was raised during a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior and Narcotics Control, which discussed the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2025.MNA Raja Khurram Shahzad Nawaz chaired the meeting.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Anjum Aqeel expressed serious reservations over the delimitation of wards, stating that there were serious discrepancies in voter numbers. “Some wards have 2,000 voters while others have 2,500. The ECP must explain how these wards were delimited,” he said.
He argued that the LG election schedule should be postponed until the issues related to delimitation are resolved.
An official from the Ministry of Interior said that elections could not be held if the constituency lists contained flaws. He suggested that the committee summon the District Election Commissioner for clarification.
The committee decided to invite the Secretary of the ECP to its next meeting to discuss the bill and address members’ concerns. Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry endorsed the decision.
While expressing their reservations over the redrawing of wards and councils in Islamabad for Local Government Elections, the members of the panel suggested that the ECP should delimit the constituencies keeping in view the geographical location and population data.
The committee unanimously passed a bill proposing major amendments to Pakistan’s criminal law to curb the rising incidents of mobile-phone snatching and other street crimes by declaring the offence non-bailable and non-compoundable.
Briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior and Narcotics Control on the bill, MNA Khawaja Azhar-ul-Hassan said that the existing laws lack clarity on mobile snatching. He noted that current provisions only refer to “theft,” allowing offenders involved in mobile snatchers to secure bail.
He said that the proposed bill is to insert a new Section 382A into the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), 1860, to define “Snatching and a street crime”. In the proposed bill, it has been defined that intimidating, threatening, or coercing an individual to relinquish movable property (like mobile phones, jewellery) is deemed snatching/ street crime.
The MNA said that the bill proposes rigorous imprisonment for up to ten years and a fine. He said that presently, the offence is bailable, but, according to the new Section 382A, the offence will be dealt as a non-bailable and non-compoundable offence. Police may arrest the accused without a warrant, he said.
The mover of the bill said that the bill was forwarded to the home departments of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K), Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration. The replies from the home departments of all provinces, AJ&K, and GB have been received, and they endorsed the bill. A senior official of the Ministry of Interior also endorsed the bill.
The committee was of the view that amendments in relevant Sections of CPC and CrPC would create deterrence against the criminals.
The parliamentary body rejected the Islamabad Capital Territory Dower Restraint Bill,2025, moved by MNA Sharmila Saheba Faruqi, and the Islamabad (Preservation of Landscape) Bill, 2025, moved by Shahida Rehmani, after a detailed discussion.
The meeting was attended by MNAs Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar, Malik Shakir Bashir Awan, Rana Ansar, Chaudhary Naseer Ahmed Abbas (via Zoom), Shahida Rehmani, Sharmila Saheba Faruqui, and senior officials from the ministries of interior and law.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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