ECP orders fresh schedule for Islamabad LG elections

ISLAMABAD – The top election regulatory Wednesday ordered LG polls in the federal capital under the 2015 local government law, directing the concerned department to issue the election schedule.
The electoral watchdog directed the relevant bodies to ensure all consequential steps expeditiously and in accordance with the law to facilitate the timely completion of the electoral process.
This order was issued, in a five member bench chaired by CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja, during the hearing a case related to LG polls in Islamabad.
Accordingly, in exercise of its constitutional powers and functions under Articles 140A, 218(3), 219 and 220 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, read with Section 219 of the Elections Act, 2017, and under Sections 17 and 24 of the ICT Local Government Act, 2015, the Commission directs the office to forthwith prepare and issue the Election schedule in the federal capital in accordance with the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Act, 2015. It may be mentioned here that the top election body requires to conduct polls within 120 days of the expiry of a LG’s terms. Whereas, the polls had not been conducted for more than five years. The commission has to conduct these elections under Article 140-A of the Constitution and Section 219(4) of the Elections Act, 2017, but the elections are pending since 2021. The commission initiated proceedings following a notice issued for conducting the polls. The commission had earlier conducted delimitations for many times but the LG Polls were repeatedly cancelled.
In Wednesday’s proceedings, the electoral watchdog ruled that LG polls in federal capital  would be conducted under the ICT Local Government Act, 2015.
Special Secretary Zafar Iqbal Malik shared with the meeting that delimitation of constituencies had been carried out six times. He said the Islamabad Local Government (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026 lapsed on Sep 6. He further informed that the commission had also sent reminders to the interior ministry, but the rules for Islamabad LG polls still waited.
The CEC, during the meeting, argued that the delimitations will not be affected even if they revert to the 2015 law. He said,” according to the rules the polls should be held in accordance with the local government law,”.