The Election Commission has announced that local elections in Islamabad will be held on February 15. Candidature files will be submitted from December 22 to 27, announced the Electoral Commission.
The verification of candidates’ candidacy files will take place from December 30 to January 3, added the Electoral Commission. Electoral symbols will be awarded to candidates on January 16.
Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Irfan Nawaz Memon will serve as the district returning officer for the local government elections. Local elections will be held in 125 union councils in Islamabad.
The survey will be conducted in accordance with the Local Government Act 2015.
The federal capital has been without an elected mayor since February 2021. Since Islamabad was established as the national capital in 1967, only two elected mayors have served the city, holding office between 2015 and 2021. After the last term of the local government (LG) in the Islamabad Capital Territory ended on February 14, 2021, the elections were postponed several times under various pretexts.
Read: ECP to hold local elections in Islamabad
The Election Commission of Pakistan has announced that local body elections will be held in Islamabad on November 18, issuing a much-awaited decision on postponing elections in the federal capital. The ECP on Monday delivered its reserved verdict on the issue, ruling that the recent amendments to the Islamabad Local Government Act, 2015 were inconsistent with the Constitution and the law.
In its written order, the ECP had said that the Secretary of the Local Government Department cannot conduct elections for women and other reserved seats, noting that the appointment of District Returning Officers (DROs), Returning Officers (ROs) and other election officers was within the sole authority of the commission.
Local governments in Islamabad are governed by the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Act, 2015. Section 29 of this law states that the term of office of a local government extends for five years from the date of its inaugural meeting.
Learn more: IHC slams delay in LG elections in Islamabad
The Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) held its first meeting on February 15, 2016, when Sheikh Anser Aziz was elected mayor. He served until his resignation in 2020, after which Adil Gillani was elected to complete the remaining term of the LG. The term of this local government ended on February 14, 2021.
Under Section 219(4) of the 2017 Electoral Act, the ECP is required to hold new local elections within 120 days of the expiration of a term, meaning the elections should have taken place by June 2021. Yet more than four and a half years later, the capital continues to operate without elected local representation.
