ISLAMABAD: The extended deadline for filing nominations for local government elections in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) will expire on Tuesday (today), whereas the electoral body is scheduled to publish the names of the nominated candidates for the said polls on Wednesday (tomorrow).
In accordance with the revised LG elections programme issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) last week, the scrutiny of nominations would be from January 01 to 06, 2026.
The ICT LG term expired on 14th February 2021, but the electoral entity 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 LGs’ 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 18th 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 was issued after almost three weeks, on 9th December.
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 government term in Punjab expired on 31st 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.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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