ECP asks authorities to complete steps for Islamabad local polls

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has directed the Ministry of Interior and the Islamabad administration to immediately complete pending notifications required for local government elections in the federal capital, warning that the matter would be taken up for a formal hearing if there was no progress.

The direction came months after the commission postponed Islamabad’s local government elections for the fourth time. Chairing a meeting, Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja said holding local government elections was a constitutional requirement under Article 140(A) of the Constitution.

He noted that local governments were functioning in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan, while elections in Punjab and Islamabad had not been held because of changes in local government laws.

The ECP said the interior secretary and the Islamabad chief commissioner had been asked to take up the matter immediately with the relevant standing committee and the federal cabinet. The commission said, "If no progress is made, the case will be fixed for hearing in the Election Commission,” and added, “If required, this matter will be raised with the federal government at an appropriate level."

Raja said the participation of senior officials in the meeting showed that the ECP expected the outstanding issues to be resolved

“amicably”

so that the delimitation schedule could be issued and local elections could be held in Islamabad.

Pending legal and administrative requirements

Officials told the meeting that the term of Islamabad’s local bodies ended on February 14, 2021, and elections have not been held since then. They said the federal government amended the Islamabad Local Government Act 2015 through an ordinance on January 10, 2026.

According to the ECP, several requirements are still pending after the amendments. These include notification of the limits of town corporations, notification of the number of union councils in each town, maps corresponding to those limits, rules under the ordinance, and amendments proposed by the commission.

The Islamabad chief commissioner informed the meeting that the proposed notification regarding town corporation limits and the number of union councils had already been sent to the Ministry of Interior. He said the matter would be placed before the relevant standing committee before final approval by the federal cabinet.

The interior secretary assured the ECP of

“all possible assistance”

.

Repeated delays since 2021

Since the expiry of the previous local government’s term in February 2021, elections in Islamabad have been delayed repeatedly. Around 2.5 million residents of the federal capital continue to face civic problems, including water shortages and unpaved streets.

The ECP has carried out delimitations more than once and has also issued election schedules on multiple occasions, but these were later withdrawn. At one stage, the elections were cancelled a day before polling.

When the local government term ended in 2021, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf was in office and elections were supposed to be held within 120 days, but that did not happen. Later, after the Pakistan Democratic Movement came to power, the elections were also delayed during its tenure.

During the PDM government, elections were initially planned for 50 union councils, but the government argued that the number should be increased to 101, resulting in further delay. Later, when arrangements had been completed for polls in 101 union councils, the government proposed raising the number to 125.

Elections were then scheduled for 125 union councils, but in September last year the government decided to increase the number of general seats in the union councils. In December 2025, the ECP decided to hold elections in 125 union councils on February 15 and issued the schedule. However, in January this year, the commission postponed the polls for the fourth time after the promulgation of the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Ordinance 2026.

The repeated postponements have left Islamabad without an elected local government for more than five years, while civic issues in the capital have continued to mount.