Islamabad: The Election Commission has ordered the holding of the elections under the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Act 2015. The commission has also directed the concerned authorities to issue the election schedule.
A five-member commission headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja heard the matter on Wednesday, in which the Home Secretary and Election Commission officials appeared. At the end of the hearing, the Chief Election Commissioner read out the commission’s brief order.
During the hearing, Special Secretary of the Election Commission Zafar Iqbal Malik said that the delimitation process in Islamabad has been completed six times, while the election schedule was issued four times. According to him, the last election programme was issued on October 9, and the final lists of delimitations were published on October 14.
The commission was informed that the Presidential Ordinance amending the Local Government Act had expired on September 6, but the federal government had not been able to complete the alternative legislation. Reminder letters were also sent to the Interior Ministry on the issue, while the issue of approving the rules required for the local government elections also remained unresolved.
The Interior Secretary took the stand that in case of holding elections under the 2015 law, some of the steps taken so far may have to be repeated. However, the Chief Election Commissioner said that holding elections under the current law would not affect the delimitation of constituencies.
Expressing concern over the continuous delay in the local government elections, Sikandar Sultan Raja said that it was necessary to hold elections under the constitution. He said that assurances were given by the concerned authorities to hold elections earlier, but the matter could not move forward.
This decision of the Election Commission is expected to pave the way for legal and administrative progress for the local government elections in Islamabad. The details of the polling date and other stages will be clear only after the release of the election schedule.
The last local government elections in Islamabad were held in 2015, and the term of the elected local government ended in February 2021. Since then, new elections have been continuously delayed due to issues related to legislation, delimitation, and election arrangements.
