ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi did not appear before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday, whereas Secretary Interior Khurram Agha tendered an unconditional apology to the electoral body over non-compliance with its instructions regarding the conduct of local government elections in the federal capital.
During the hearing of the case involving prolonged delay in the holding of LG elections in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), the ECP’s five-member full bench was informed by the secretary Interior that the Interior minister was not feeling well, and was, therefore, unable to appear before the bench.
Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja headed the ECP bench.
The bench granted Naqvi exemption from physical appearance for Tuesday’s hearing. Agha, the Secretary Interior, unconditionally apologised over not responding to the ECP’s letters wherein the poll body had sought from him the relevant data regarding LG system in the ICT.
The bench accepted the apology and withdrew the contempt notice previously issued to the secretary.
Last week, the ECP issued notices to the Interior minister, the secretary Interior, and chief commissioner Islamabad to appear for the ICT LG polls delay case hearing.
In an indication that the conduct of LG elections in Islamabad would remain marked with uncertainty, the ECP bench on Tuesday formed a committee on holding the said polls, but did not specify any timeline for the committee to conclude the tasks assigned to it.
In the light of the bench’s decision, the ECP notified a five-member committee headed by Chief Commissioner Islamabad Muhammad Ali Randhawa as its Convenor. The committee comprises ECP’s Special Secretary (Policy) Zafar Iqbal Hussain, Additional Director General (Local Government Elections) Nadeem Qasim and Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Irfan Nawaz Memon. The committee will have a member to be nominated by the chief commissioner Islamabad.
The committee is mandated to deliberate, finalise and submit for approval to the Interior Ministry the notification of demarcation of town corporations in the ICT, the notification of the number of union councils in each town corporation, besides meeting other related requirements.
The convenor of the committee is mandated to ensure convening the meetings of the committee on weekly basis “till the time all issues relating to the conduct of local government elections in ICT are resolved,” as per the notification.
The local bodies’ term in the ICT expired on 14th February 2021.
Legally, the electoral body is bound to hold LG elections within 120 days of the expiry of the relevant local bodies’ term, under Section 219(4) of the Elections Act, 2017.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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