Long-delayed LG elections in ICT: Federal cabinet yet to grant approval
ISLAMABAD: Uncertainty continues to surround the fate of long-delayed local government elections in the federal capital, as the federal cabinet is yet to nod its approval to the related modalities for holding the said elections.
On this count, a meeting, Wednesday, between the senior management of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the government officers concerned was informed that the Interior Ministry was yet to send the case involving the issuance of notification regarding the limits of town corporations as well as the number of union councils in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) to the relevant committee, and subsequently, to the federal cabinet, for final approval.
Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja chaired the meeting attended by Secretary Interior Khurram Agha, Chief Commissioner Islamabad Sohail Ashraf, Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Irfan Nawaz Memon and other officials concerned.
The meeting ended with the ECP having directed the government officers to provide the required data and notifications for holding the LG polls in Islamabad, and the latter having reiterated their “all possible support” in this regard.
Despite that the case involving prolonged delay in the conduct of LG polls in the federal capital is already pending in the ECP, the CEC said that the case would be “fixed for hearing if there is no progress” from the government’s side.
“The matter would be taken up with the federal government at an appropriate level, if required,” he said.
On 10 March, in what came as an indication that the conduct of LG elections in Islamabad would remain marked with uncertainty, the ECP formed a committee on holding the said polls, but did not specify any timeline for this panel to conclude the tasks assigned to it.
The five-member ECP-notified committee was headed by the then Chief Commissioner Islamabad Muhammad Ali Randhawa as its Convenor. The committee comprised ECP’s Special Secretary (Policy) Zafar Iqbal Hussain, Additional Director General (LG Elections) Nadeem Qasim and Memon, the DC Islamabad. The committee was to have a member to be nominated by the chief commissioner Islamabad.
In addition, the panel was 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. However, till date, no update regarding the committee’s progress has come to light.
Also on 10 March, during the proceedings of Islamabad LG elections delay case heard by the five-member full ECP bench headed by the CEC, the secretary interior tendered an unconditional apology to the electoral body over non-compliance with its instructions regarding the conduct of LG polls in the federal capital.
The bench accepted the apology and withdrew the contempt notice previously issued to the secretary.
The next day, (March 11), the ECP bench issued a written order which said that the Commission “made all possible efforts for timely conduct of local government elections in the ICT. However, the lack of timely response and cooperation from the relevant authorities has caused delay in the fulfilment of the constitutional and statutory mandate of the ECP.”
The written order also noted that the “present government set-up is not providing proper assistance to the Commission, and consequently, the matter has been fixed for hearing.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026