ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), human rights activists, civil society organisations and residents of the federal capital have rejected the new amendments in Islamabad Capital Territory local government system promulgated through an ordinance.

Activists believe that the amendments, introduced through what they termed a “controversial” ordinance, have deprived citizens of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) of their right to elect members of town corporations. Under the new arrangement, out of 52 members, only four will be women, while not a single member will be directly accountable to the public.

According to a statement issued by the PTI media wing, the presidential ordinance was an attempt to avoid local government elections for the fourth time.

“Moreover, the owners of land have been forced to hand over their land to the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and the Capital Development Authority (CDA), due to which the government cannot win elections,” said PTI Islamabad President Amir Mughal.

He said the government was well aware that it had lost the trust of Islamabad’s residents due to bad governance, price hikes, the law and order situation, chopping of trees and the killing of PTI workers at D-Chowk.

Amir Mughal said that in Muslim Colony, Bari Imam, over 40,000 residents were forced to relocate without being provided any alternative accommodation. He alleged that the current MNAs from Islamabad were also backing the land mafia and, therefore, could not afford to face local government elections.

Civil society groups have also rejected the amendments, claiming that out of an average of 52 members per town corporation, only four, about eight per cent, will be women and not a single member will be directly elected or publicly accountable.

“The creation of town corporations, abolition of the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI), and appointment of unelected administrators with expanded powers and unlimited tenure will make the local government system less democratic, more centralised and dangerously top-down. These changes are a recipe for administrative chaos, likely to deepen tensions between elected and unelected officials — and even among the limited number of so-called ‘elected’ members,” a statement said.

The signatories rejected the amendments, saying the entire process was carried out in an extremely secretive and controversial manner. Instead of improving governance, they warned, the amendments would fuel cronyism, corruption and unaccountable decision-making.

Islamabad’s LG polls ordinance challenged

A writ petition has been filed in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) challenging the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026, with the petitioner alleging that the move was made with mala fide intent to delay long-pending local government elections in the federal capital.

The petition, filed under Article 199 of the Constitution by Muhammad Nasrullah, President of Jamaat-i-Islami Islamabad, names the President of Pakistan, the Federation through the Ministry of Law and Justice, and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as respondents.

According to the petition, the ECP had announced the schedule for local government elections in the Islamabad Capital Territory on December 9, 2025, which was later revised on December 26, fixing February 15, 2026, as polling day.

However, on January 10, 2026, President Asif Ali Zardari promulgated the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026, which the petitioner contends has made it practically impossible to hold elections under the notified schedule.

The petitioner argues that the ordinance violates Articles 17, 32, 89, and 140-A of the Constitution, asserting that no extraordinary circumstances existed to justify the promulgation of an ordinance, particularly when a session of the National Assembly was due to commence within days.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2026