ECP Orders Islamabad Local Government Elections Under 2015 Law

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has ordered Islamabad Elections under the Local Government Act 2015. It directed the relevant authorities to issue the election schedule on the same day.

ECP Reviews Election Delays

A five-member commission, led by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, heard the case in Islamabad. The interior secretary and ECP officials attended the proceedings.

ECP Special Secretary Zafar Iqbal Malik briefed the commission on previous election efforts. He said authorities had conducted delimitation six times and announced the election schedule four times.

The latest election programme was issued on October 9, 2026. According to the briefing, polling was scheduled for February 2026.

Delimitation and Legal Hurdles

The commission heard that the government’s presidential order had expired on September 6. Authorities published the final delimitations on October 14. The ECP had also sent two reminders to the Ministry of Interior about the order’s expiry.

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Malik said the authorities had not provided the Islamabad local government rules. He added that the Ministry of Law had refused to approve them.

He explained that the federal government had not introduced a new local government law. Therefore, the 2015 legislation remained in force. The ECP maintained that elections could proceed under the existing law.

Interior Secretary Raises Objection

During the hearing, the interior secretary acknowledged the ECP’s account. However, he argued that using the 2015 law would require authorities to scrap the proceedings completed so far.

Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja disagreed. He said holding elections under the existing law would not affect the delimitation process.

ECP Criticises Government Delays

The chief election commissioner also expressed concern over repeated delays. He said the interior minister, interior secretary, chief commissioner and a committee of ministers had made several assurances.

However, the commission had yet to see those commitments fulfilled. Raja remarked that the government appeared unwilling to hold local government elections in Islamabad.

He stressed that the Constitution required local government elections under the law. He added that the ECP had been compelled to order the polls.

Election Schedule Ordered

At the end of the hearing, the ECP ordered Islamabad’s local government elections under the 2015 law. It directed the relevant authorities to issue the election schedule that day.

Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja also read out the commission’s brief order.