NA panel's LG bill casts doubt on Islamabad's Dec 20 polls

A day after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced December 20 as polling day for local government elections in Islamabad, a National Assembly committee has presented a report seeking amendments to the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Local Government Act, 2015, which casts doubt on the announced schedule, Dawn reported.

The report on the ICT Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2026 (Ordinance No. II of 2026) was presented by Raja Khurram Shahzad Nawaz of the PML-N, chairman of the Standing Committee on Interior, in the National Assembly on Thursday. The government introduced the bill in March, but the committee’s report was presented only after the ECP announced the schedule. Read our report on the December 20 schedule.

What the bill proposes

The main changes are:

• Three town corporations: the Metropolitan Corporation would be replaced by three town corporations, each headed by its own mayor with two deputy mayors.
• Membership: each town corporation would include the chairmen of all union councils in its area as general members, four women members, one peasant or worker, one trader or businessman, one youth member and one non-Muslim member.
• Union councils: these would be delimited on the basis of population equality, using the latest official census and administrative convenience.
• Administrators: their powers would be expanded, including the power to impose taxes, and the current six-month limit on an administrator’s tenure would be removed. An amendment to Section 29 would allow the government to appoint an administrator to exercise the powers of a local government after its term ends.

The amendments are proposed to Sections 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 29, 63, 88 and 93 of the 2015 law. The statement of objects and reasons says the 2015 Act was passed to create an elected local government system and to devolve political, administrative and financial authority to elected representatives, and that the changes are needed so the benefits of the law reach the grassroots.

Dissent inside the committee

Dawn noted that PPP members of the committee, including MNAs Abdul Qadir Patel, Syed Rafiullah, Sardar Nabeel Ahmed Gabol and Nawabzada Mir Jamal Khan Raisani, submitted dissenting notes on the bill, as did Khushal Khan Kakar of the Pashtunkhwa National Awami Party. Dawn described the PPP’s dissent as “interesting”.

Why the polls matter

The term of Islamabad’s elected local government expired in February 2021, and the ECP was required to hold elections within 120 days. Since then constituencies and union councils have been delimited six times and election schedules issued four times, according to Dawn, with the federal government repeatedly postponing the vote and citing proposed changes to the local government law. The previous programme, announced on October 9, had fixed polling for February 2026. About 2.5 million Islamabad residents have been without an elected local government for more than five years.

On Wednesday, the ECP ruled that the polls must go ahead under the 2015 law, as the ordinance that had changed the structure lapsed on September 6, and its chief election commissioner said it appeared that the government did not wish to hold the polls. The ECP’s decision on December 20 came after it had concluded that waiting for new legislation was not an option. Read our report on the ECP’s order.

Whenever a schedule was announced before, the local chapter of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) reportedly claimed that the government, afraid of losing, would find a way to avoid the polls. The ruling PML-N’s local chapter has consistently rejected the allegation, maintaining that the government wants an effective local government system in the capital.

Why it matters

If the National Assembly passes the amended law before December 20, it would change the structure under which the ECP has scheduled the polls, and the date could again be in doubt. If the report does not become law in time, the ECP has ordered that the vote go ahead under the 2015 Act. The coming sittings of the National Assembly will show which way the government goes, and whether the PPP’s dissent changes the numbers.

This article draws on reporting by Dawn and The Express Tribune.