ECP issues delimitation schedule for delayed Islamabad local polls

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced the schedule for delimitation of constituencies for Islamabad’s long-pending local government elections, setting in motion a process that will continue through October 13, when the final lists of constituencies and union councils are to be published.

According to the schedule, administrative preparations, including the procurement of maps and other relevant data, will be carried out from July 22 to July 31. The election schedule is to be issued after the delimitation exercise is completed.

The previous local government term in Islamabad ended in February 2021, and elections have remained pending since then. The delay has left the federal capital without elected local representation for years, with residents facing civic problems including water shortages and broken or unpaved streets.

Series of delays

The local polls have been postponed repeatedly under successive governments. Federal authorities had on several occasions decided to hold elections, only to withdraw those plans later, largely on the grounds that the local government law needed to be further strengthened for better performance.

When the local government term expired in 2021, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) was in office and elections were supposed to be held within 120 days, but the government did not take serious steps to organise the vote. After the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) came to power, the process also remained stalled.

During the PDM period, elections were initially planned for 50 union councils. The government then argued that the number should be increased to 101, causing further delay. Later, after arrangements had been completed for polls in 101 union councils, the government proposed raising the number again, from 101 to 125. Elections were then planned for 125 union councils, but in September last year the government decided to increase the number of general seats in the union councils.

Earlier this year, the ECP had moved to hold elections in 125 union councils, but the process was again put off after fresh legislation was introduced to divide Islamabad into three town corporations.

Ordinance changed local government structure

In January, President Asif Ali Zardari approved an ordinance that amended the Local Government Act 2015. Under the changes, the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) was replaced with three town corporations, while the government-appointed administrator was given expanded powers and an open-ended tenure until fresh elections are held.

The ordinance was introduced when local government elections in Islamabad had been scheduled for February 15. By that stage, thousands of people from all 125 union councils had already submitted nomination papers.

The changes also removed the previous restriction that capped the administrator’s tenure at six months in the absence of an elected local government. The ordinance further authorised the administrator to impose tax, fee, rate, rent, toll charge or surcharge.

Under the amended framework, Islamabad will have three town corporations, each of which will, as far as practicable, correspond to the territorial limits of a National Assembly constituency. Islamabad has three National Assembly seats.

Political reactions

When the ECP announced the election schedule in February, the PTI’s local chapter had said the government, fearing defeat, would find a way to avoid holding the polls that month. PML-N former deputy mayor Syed Zeeshan Ali Naqvi rejected that allegation at the time, saying the ordinance had been introduced to create a better local government system in Islamabad and that the PML-N would win the elections.

With the delimitation timetable now formally issued, the process has entered a new phase. The final publication of constituencies and union councils is due on October 13, after which the ECP is expected to announce the election schedule.