Pakistan: Islamabad local government elections likely to be postponed again after cabinet amendments

Islamabad [Pakistan], January 3 (ANI): Local government elections in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, are likely to be postponed for the fifth time as the federal cabinet approved multiple amendments to the Local Government Act, 2015, making it difficult to hold the polls scheduled for February 15, Dawn reported.
The cabinet approved 14 amendments to the law, including replacing the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad with "Town Corporations".
Under the revised framework, Islamabad will be divided into three town corporations, each broadly aligned with the territorial limits of a National Assembly constituency in the capital, which has three NA seats.
"The cabinet endorsed the decisions made in the meeting of the Cabinet Committee for Legislative Cases on December 30, 2025, which also include confirmation of action regarding the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025," an official statement issued after the cabinet meeting said, according to Dawn.
While the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has not yet formally announced a postponement, the latest amendments have raised serious doubts over the feasibility of holding the elections next month.
When the election schedule was announced by the ECP last month, the local chapter of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) claimed that the government would avoid conducting the polls in February, Dawn reported.
The claim was rejected by the local leadership of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which argued that amendments to the law were necessary for improved service delivery and said it would repeat its earlier electoral success.
The term of Islamabad's last local government expired in February 2021, and elections have been delayed repeatedly since then.
As a result, nearly 2.5 million residents of the capital continue to face civic problems, including water shortages and poor road infrastructure, Dawn reported.
The ECP has conducted delimitation exercises several times and announced election schedules on multiple occasions, only for them to be withdrawn later.
In one instance, the polls were cancelled just a day before voting.
When the local government's term ended in 2021, PTI was in power and elections were required to be held within 120 days, but no significant steps were taken.
The subsequent Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government also delayed the process, citing disagreements over the number of union councils in the capital.
During the PDM's tenure, elections were initially planned for 50 union councils, but the government argued that the number should be increased to 101, leading to further delays.
Later, the number was proposed to be increased again to 125 union councils, and even after elections were scheduled on that basis, additional changes to general seats were introduced.
Last month, the ECP decided to hold elections for 125 union councils, but the government has since introduced fresh amendments, restructuring the local government system and dividing Islamabad into three town corporations.
The first and only local government elections in Islamabad were held in 2015-16, when PML-N emerged victorious and Sheikh Anser Aziz was elected mayor.
At that time, the capital had 50 union councils. (ANI)