The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday ordered local government elections in the federal capital under the 2015 local government law and directed the relevant authorities to issue the election schedule the same day.
A five-member bench, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, issued the order after hearing a case concerning the long-delayed local government elections in Islamabad.
The interior secretary and ECP officials appeared before the commission.
During the hearing, ECP Special Secretary Zafar Iqbal Malik informed the commission that delimitation had been carried out six times in Islamabad, while the election schedule had been announced on four occasions.
He said the last election programme was issued on October 9, 2026, under which polling was scheduled for February 2026.
The commission was informed that the presidential order issued by the government had expired on September 6, while the final delimitation lists were published on October 14.
The ECP had also sent two reminder letters to the Ministry of Interior regarding the expiry of the presidential order.
Zafar Iqbal Malik told the commission that the Islamabad local government rules had not yet been provided, while the Ministry of Law had refused to approve them.
He said the federal government had not introduced fresh local government legislation and that the 2015 law remained in force, allowing elections to be conducted under the existing legal framework.
The interior secretary acknowledged the facts presented by the ECP but maintained that holding elections under the 2015 law would require the proceedings conducted so far to be scrapped.
Responding to the argument, the chief election commissioner observed that conducting elections under the 2015 law would not affect the delimitation process.
Sikandar Sultan Raja expressed displeasure over the repeated delays, saying the interior minister, interior secretary, chief commissioner and a committee of ministers had given several assurances regarding the elections, but none had been implemented.He remarked that the government’s conduct suggested it was unwilling to hold local government elections in the federal capital.
The chief election commissioner said the Constitution required local government elections to be conducted in accordance with the law and that the prevailing circumstances had compelled the commission to issue an order for the polls.
At the conclusion of the hearing, the ECP directed that local government elections in Islamabad be held under the 2015 law and instructed the relevant authorities to announce the election schedule the same day.
Raja also read out the commission’s brief order.
