Election Commission schedules Islamabad local polls for February 15

The Election Commission has announced that local government elections in Islamabad will take place on February 15. Nomination papers will be submitted from December 22 to 27, the Election Commission announced.

The verification of candidates’ nomination papers will take place from December 30 to January 3, the Election Commission added. Election symbols will be allotted to candidates on January 16.

Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Irfan Nawaz Memon will serve as the District Returning Officer for the local government elections. Local government elections will be held across 125 union councils in Islamabad.

The poll 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 local government (LG) term in Islamabad Capital Territory concluded on February 14, 2021, elections have been repeatedly postponed under various pretexts.

Read: ECP to hold local polls in Islamabad

The Election Commission of Pakistan announced that local government elections will be held in Islamabad on November 18, issuing a long-awaited decision on the delayed polls in the federal capital. The ECP released its reserved verdict on the matter on Monday, 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 the Secretary of the Local Government Department could not conduct elections for women and other reserved seats, noting that appointing district returning officers (DROs), returning officers (ROs), and other poll officials was 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 Act stipulates that a local government's term spans five years from the date of its inaugural meeting.

Read more: IHC slams delay in Islamabad LG polls

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 LG term. This local government's term concluded on February 14, 2021.

Under Section 219(4) of the Elections Act, 2017, the ECP is required to hold fresh local government elections within 120 days of a term's expiration, which meant elections should have been conducted by June 2021. Yet, more than four-and-a-half years later, the capital continues to function without elected local representation.