ISLAMABAD: The conduct of local government elections in Islamabad seems not in sight in the near future, as another amendment to the Local Government Act is in the process.

The term of the local government expired in February 2021, but so far elections have not been held, and continue to face delays in the name of new legislation.

In May this year, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had criticised the government for delaying legislation for holding the local government polls in Islamabad. The ECP deplored that whenever it completed preparations for holding the elections, amendments were made to the Local Government Act.

The ECP had conducted delimitation of constituencies multiple time and issue elections scheduled at least thrice only to be cancelled later on.

NA body told that govt wants to give representation to business community in local govt

On Tuesday, a new amendment to the Act of 2015 was discussed by the National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior, which met under the chairmanship of ruling party MNA Raja Khurram Shahzad Nawaz. The committee chairman also belongs to Islamabad.

The committee considered “The Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2025” (government Bill).

During the meeting, concerned officials briefed the participants and said that the proposed amendment sought to include representatives of the business community in Union Councils to ensure their participation in local governance. The committee directed that a detailed briefing be provided in the next meeting regarding the overall composition of Union Councils, including the total number of seats, method of election, and the specific role of business community members.

The committee directed that a complete draft of the Bill be circulated among all members for further consideration. It also decided that the CDA along with a representative of the Law Division would brief the committee in detail in the next meeting.

It is relevant to note here that like the incumbent government, the previous government of PTI also did not show any seriousness in holding local government elections as in its tenure in 2021, the five-year term of the local government ended and new elections should have been conducted within six months.

Later on, the PDM government came into power and it too managed to drag the elections. During the PDM’s tenure, the elections were all set to be held in 50 union councils (UCs) like previous practice, but the government pleaded that instead of 50 there should be 101 union councils in the federal capital.

On this pretext, the elections were delayed. Later, when arrangements were finalised to hold the elections in 101 UCs, the PDM government came up with a new “idea” of increasing the number of UCs from 101 to 125.

Then, elections were scheduled in 125 UCs, but in September last year, the government came up with another idea of increasing the number of general seats in the UCs.

Now, the government wants to give “representation” to traders in Union Council through the proposed bill.

The last LG elections were held in 2015-16, which were won by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Sheikh Anser Aziz was elected as the first mayor of Islamabad.

Gulberg Green Housing Society

Meanwhile, the committee expressed dissatisfaction over the absence of the President and Secretary of IBECHS/Gulberg Greens, Islamabad, from the meeting. The Circle Registrar ICT informed the committee that the Secretary was ill while the President was in Sindh.

The committee directed that the Circle Registrar submit audit reports and land-related records of the Gulberg Greens Cooperative Housing Society to the committee for examination.

Meanwhile, the committee also deferred “The Corrosive Substances Assault (Prevention and Protection) Bill, 2024” and “The Islamabad Capital Territory Dowry Restraint Bill, 2025,” both moved by MNA Sharmila Sahiba Faruqui Hashaam, as the mover was abroad.

Detailed consideration was given to “The Capital Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2025 (Section 51)” moved by MNA Shazia Marri and the committee directed the CDA that buildings lacking the required accessibility facilities should be given a fixed timeframe to comply, failing which penalties may be imposed.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2025