ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday issued a notice to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on a petition filed by Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) challenging the withdrawal of the schedule for local government elections in the federal capital and sought a response by Jan 27.

The matter was heard by Justice Mohammad Azam Khan. During the proceedings, Jamaat-e-Islami Islamabad Ameer Mohammad Nasrullah Randhawa appeared before the court along with his counsel, Advocate Chaudhry Shoaib Ahmed.

The petition challenges the ECP’s notification withdrawing the local government election schedule for Islamabad, contending that the move is unlawful and unconstitutional. The petitioner argued that the last local government elections in the federal capital were held in 2015 and that the five-year constitutional term of the local bodies has long expired.

Counsel for the petitioner submitted that under the law, fresh local government elections are required to be held within 120 days of the completion of the term of local bodies. However, instead of fulfilling this constitutional obligation, the ECP withdrew the already announced election schedule, which is against the law, he added.

The court was informed that the ECP had initially announced the local government election schedule on Dec 9, which was later revised on Dec 26, fixing Feb 15 as the polling day.

However, the schedule was effectively rendered ineffective after the promulgation of the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Ordinance 2026 by President Asif Ali Zardari on January 10.

The petitioner contended that the ordinance was promulgated with mala fide intent to delay long-pending local government elections in Islamabad. It was argued that the ordinance was issued after the announcement of the election schedule and just days before the commencement of a National Assembly session, despite the absence of any extraordinary circumstances warranting such a step.

Nasrullah Randhawa submitted that the ordinance was unconstitutional and in violation of Articles 17, 32, 89 and 140-A of the Constitution. He further reminded the court that the IHC had earlier issued directions for holding local government elections in Islamabad, which were not implemented, and that even a contempt petition filed in this regard did not lead to any effective action.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2026