ISLAMABAD: A day after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced the schedule for local government elections in Islamabad on December 20, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior presented a report to the lower house seeking amendments to the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Act, 2015, casting doubt on the already announced election schedule.

The report on the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2026 (Ordinance No. II of 2026), was presented by committee chairman Raja Khurram Shahzad Nawaz of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) during Thursday’s session of the National Assembly.

The bill proposes major changes, including dividing Islamabad into three town corporations, each headed by a separate mayor and deputy mayors.

The government introduced the bill in March this year, but the committee’s report was presented a day after the ECP announced the election schedule.

NA committee report proposes three town corporations, separate mayors and greater powers for administrators

Interestingly, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) members of the committee, including MNAs Abdul Qadir Patel, Syed Rafiullah, Sardar Nabeel Ahmed Gabol and Nawabzada Mir Jamal Khan Raisani, along with Pashtunkhwa National Awami Party’s Khushal Khan Kakar, submitted dissenting notes on the bill.

Under the proposed legislation, Islamabad would have three town corporations, while union councils would be delimited on the basis of population equality, taking into account the latest official census and administrative convenience.

A town corporation would comprise a mayor and two deputy mayors, the chairmen of all union councils within its jurisdiction as general members, four women members, one peasant or worker, one trader or businessman, one youth member and one non-Muslim member.

The bill also proposes expanding the powers of administrators, including authorising them to impose taxes. It seeks to remove the existing six-month limit on an administrator’s tenure.

The statement of objects and reasons accompanying the bill says the ICT Local Government Act, 2015, was enacted to establish an elected local government system and devolve political, administrative and financial authority to elected representatives to promote good governance, effective service delivery and transparent decision-making through public participation at the grassroots level.

It states that amendments are necessary to ensure that the benefits of the law reach the grassroots level. Amendments have been proposed to Sections 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 29, 63, 88 and 93 of the existing law.

The proposed changes would replace the Metropolitan Corporation with three town corporations. An amendment to Section 29 would also allow the government to appoint an administrator to exercise the powers and perform the functions of a local government after its term expires.

On Wednesday, the ECP announced another schedule for local government elections in the capital, fixing December 20 as polling day.

The term of Islamabad’s local government expired in February 2021, and the ECP was required to hold elections within 120 days. However, the federal government and the commission have repeatedly undertaken delimitation exercises and announced election schedules before postponing the polls.

Constituencies and union councils have been delimited six times, while the election schedule has been issued four times. The previous programme, announced on October 9, had fixed polling for February 2026.

The federal government continued to postpone elections, citing various reasons, including proposed amendments to the Local Government Act, depriving around 2.5 million Islamabad residents of an elected local government system.

Whenever an election schedule was announced, the local chapter of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) reportedly claimed that the government, fearing defeat, would find a way to avoid holding the polls.

The ruling PML-N’s local chapter consistently rejected the allegations, maintaining that the government wanted an effective and vibrant local government system in Islamabad.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2026