The Islamabad High Court on Friday put the timetable for local government elections in the federal capital on hold. It also froze the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) order setting the polls, pending the next hearing on November 26.
The ECP had announced on October 21 that the local polls would be held on December 20, and it released the election schedule the same day. The process had been delayed several times since the previously elected local government finished its term in 2021.
Petitioner disputes delimitation under the revived 2015 law
The interim order followed a petition filed by Islamabad resident Amjad Ali through advocate Adil Aziz Qazi. The petition challenges the legal basis of the election process and the way constituencies were delimited. According to the written order, the ECP is constitutionally and legally bound to ensure elections are fair, just and transparent.
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The petitioner argued that the Islamabad Local Government Ordinance, 2026 had ceased to have effect, which meant the original Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Act, 2015 was revived. According to the lawyer, no valid decision had been taken on delimiting 125 union councils, each with nine wards, or the constituencies of the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI). The court was told that delimitations made under the amended law could not automatically be used for elections under the 2015 Act.
The petitioner also said fresh delimitation and new electoral rolls were required under both the Local Government Act and the Elections Act before any vote. The lawyer maintained that holding polls without that process would breach Article 218(3) of the Constitution, which obliges the ECP to conduct elections honestly, justly, fairly and in line with the law.
Election timetable suspended until late November
Under the original schedule, the ECP was to issue a public notice inviting nomination papers on October 30. Candidates could file their papers from November 2 to November 6, and the names of nominated candidates were due on November 7. Scrutiny was set for November 9 to November 13.
The petition asked the court to annul the ECP’s October 21 order and the schedule built around the December 20 polls. While issuing its interim order, the IHC suspended both the ECP’s order and the schedule until November 26, when the case will next be heard.
Before the stay, the ECP had also given the district returning officer (DRO) and the returning officers (ROs) appointed for the Islamabad polls the powers of first-class magistrates. This would have allowed them to take legal action against election-related offences.
Planned three-council structure for the capital
On September 2, the federal cabinet approved a new local government system for Islamabad. Under it, the federal capital would be divided into three councils, each headed by its own mayor.
The December 20 polls had been expected to restore an elected local government in Islamabad, which has had no such body since the previous term ended in 2021.
