ISLAMABAD: Labour unions and civil society organisations have outrightly rejected what they described as a “blatant assault on constitutional rights” through recent amendments to the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) local government framework. Local government elections are scheduled to be held in Islamabad on February 15 across all 125 union councils of the federal capital.

The organisations said that through the amendments, the government has allowed businessmen and technocrats to occupy seats reserved for peasants and workers, while drastically cutting women’s representation from 33 per cent to just 7pc, which they termed nothing short of engineered elite capture.

“These changes openly violate Articles 3, 25, 32 and 38 of Pakistan’s Constitution, destroy the principle of positive discrimination, and trample the Charter of Democracy. They also place Pakistan in breach of its international commitments, including GSP Plus obligations and the Sustainable Development Goals,” said a press release issued by Coalition-38, a nationwide network of associations, community-based organisations, labour unions and human rights activists.

The press release said that the ICT Local Government Act defines peasants and workers as economically vulnerable citizens dependent on subsistence labour. Inserting undefined “businessmen” and privileged technocrats into these categories, it added, is a calculated move to push the poor out of the only political space reserved for them. A daily-wage worker cannot compete with wealth, influence and patronage networks, nor is that the intention, it said.

“Islamabad’s local elections have already been repeatedly delayed, cancelled and manipulated. Between 2021 and 2025, election schedules were announced five times and withdrawn four times, sometimes days before polling, without explanation or accountability. Now, with elections again announced for February 2026, the law itself is being rewritten to ensure that even if voting occurs, the outcome is pre-decided,” the statement said.

It said that reserved seats were the last foothold for peasants, workers and women in local councils, and stripping these protections confirmed a deep fear of genuine grassroots representation. “Elites cannot tolerate sitting as equals with workers, nor can they risk even a single councillor demanding enforcement of labour and land rights. This is not reform. It is exclusion by design,” the statement said.

The organisations demanded the immediate removal of businessmen and technocrats from seats reserved for peasants and workers, restoration of the women’s quota to 33 per cent, and direct elections for all local government positions, including mayor and deputy mayor. They also called for full devolution and empowerment of ICT local governments as mandated by Article 140-A of the Constitution and the Charter of Democracy.

“Local government is the foundation of democracy. Undermining it is an attack on the republic itself,” the statement said.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2026