The federal government’s proposed amendment to create three town corporations could require fresh delimitation, threatening the Election Commission’s latest schedule for long-delayed local elections.
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — WEB DESK: Islamabad’s long-delayed local government elections face the possibility of another postponement after the federal government advanced proposed legislative changes that could require a fresh delimitation of union councils, potentially disrupting the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) December 20 polling schedule.
The development came a day after the ECP announced the latest election programme for the federal capital. The commission has scheduled polling for December 20, with nomination papers due to be received from November 2 to November 6.
The proposed changes could mark another setback in a process that has remained unresolved for more than five years.
Proposed bill seeks three town corporations
The federal government has moved forward with the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2026, according to reporting by Geo News and The News.
A report from the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Interior was presented in the National Assembly on Thursday. PML-N lawmaker Anjum Aqeel Khan presented the report on behalf of committee chairman Raja Khurram Shahzad.
Under the proposed amendment, Islamabad would be organised into three town corporations, each led by a mayor and two deputy mayors.
The draft also provides for the federal government to notify the three corporations and carry out delimitation of union councils based on population.
That process could make it difficult to proceed with the December 20 election date under the existing timetable. The government was expected to seek passage of the bill during the National Assembly session scheduled to continue until October 27.
The bill’s reported progress does not, by itself, mean that the ECP has formally postponed the December 20 elections. The announced schedule remains distinct from the possibility of a later change.
ECP announces December 20 polling date
The ECP ordered its officials on October 21 to take the necessary legal and constitutional steps to organise local government elections in Islamabad.
The commission issued the schedule the following day, setting December 20 as polling day. Nomination papers are scheduled to be received from November 2 to 6.
The ECP has also notified 49 officers to serve as district returning officers, returning officers and assistant returning officers for the electoral process.
The schedule followed a dispute over the legal framework for the elections after the Islamabad Local Government (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026, expired on September 6 without replacement legislation being enacted.
The ECP decided to proceed under the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Act, 2015, which it said remained in force.
Islamabad elections have faced repeated delays
The capital has been without an elected local government since the previous administration’s term expired in February 2021.
The city’s previous local government elections were held in 2015. Since then, changes to the proposed number of union councils, delimitation exercises and revisions to the legal framework have repeatedly disrupted election preparations.
According to reporting on the ECP proceedings, constituency delimitation had been carried out six times and election schedules issued on multiple occasions without polling taking place.
The latest proposed restructuring has revived uncertainty over whether the commission can conduct the elections under its current schedule or whether further legislative and administrative steps will be required.
ECP also schedules hearing on Punjab and cantonment polls
Separately, the ECP has scheduled a hearing for October 28 concerning local government elections in Punjab and cantonment boards across the country.
The hearing is distinct from the Islamabad election schedule but comes amid wider disputes over the timing and legal arrangements for local government polls.
