ISLAMABAD: Hours after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) expressed concerns over the delay in holding local government elections in the capital, the federal government on Wednesday moved a bill in the National Assembly seeking more powers for the administrator and the federal government to manage the affairs in the absence of the local government.
Under the existing law, the administrator oversees its functions but cannot hold office for more than six months.
Similarly, under the existing law, only the local government can levy taxes. However, through the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Second Amendment) Bill, tabled in the Assembly by Parliamentary Affairs Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, the government seeks to remove the six-month restriction, allowing the administrator to hold office until an elected local government assumes charge.
The bill also proposes empowering the administrator to levy taxes.
New bill seeks unlimited tenure for administrator in absence of LG
“A tax proposal vetted by the government shall, within 15 days, be laid before Parliament,” the bill states. “If Parliament does not disapprove the tax proposal within 60 days, it shall be deemed to have been approved,” it adds.
The government, through the bill, seeks amendments to Sections 29, 88, and 93 of the Local Government Act 2015 (amended in 2024). It further states that directions issued by the federal government shall be binding on the local government and the administrator. The bill seeks several amendments mainly related to members of the Union Councils.
The term of the last local government expired in February 2021, and since then, elections have been delayed under various pretexts, depriving around 2.5 million residents of Islamabad, who continue to face issues ranging from water shortages to unpaved streets.
Earlier in the day, the ECP held a meeting on the matter of local government elections in Islamabad. The meeting, presided over by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, was attended by commission members, the secretary, and other senior officers.
According to a statement issued by the ECP, the commission was informed that an amendment was required in Section 15 of the Islamabad Local Government Act, 2015. Interestingly, the bill moved on Wednesday did not address Section 15 but instead focused on granting more powers to the administrator.
The ECP said it had written several times to the Ministry of Interior on the matter. The meeting was told that the latest communication from the ministry was received on October 23, informing the Commission that the proposed amendment bill had been presented before the Standing Committee of the NA on October 21, but was deferred for further consideration.
The meeting noted that the tenure of the local governments in Islamabad had expired on February 14, 2021, and elections have since been delayed.
It observed that since the conduct of these elections had already been pending for a considerable time, further correspondence could cause additional delays. Therefore, it was decided that the case regarding the conduct of Islamabad Local Government Elections would be fixed for hearing before the Election Commission on November 13.
Earlier in May this year, the ECP had criticised the government for delaying legislation for the polls, deploring that whenever it completed preparations for holding the elections, amendments were made to the Local Government Act.
It is worth noting that the ECP has conducted delimitation of constituencies multiple times and issued election schedules at least thrice, all of which were later cancelled.
Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2025
