IHC seeks response on Islamabad local body election delay
The Islamabad High Court on Wednesday issued notices to the federal government and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), seeking their response to a petition challenging the presidential ordinance and the postponement of local body elections in the federal capital.
Justice Muhammad Azam Khan heard the petition filed by the Markazi Muslim League. The court also clubbed this petition with a similar case filed by the Jamaat-e-Islami.
During the hearing, petitioner Inam-ur-Rahman Kamboh appeared in court with his lawyer, Ashfaq Ahmed Kharl. He argued that the Local Government Ordinance is being challenged as a presidential ordinance.
Read: IHC slams delay in Islamabad LG polls
Holding elections should be the ECP’s top priority, he contended. The schedule had been announced, nomination papers submitted, and all requirements fulfilled, yet the elections were postponed, he added.
The petitioner's lawyer further stated that local body elections in Islamabad have been postponed for the fourth time, requesting the court declare the presidential ordinance null and void and order the holding of the.
The court has sought a response from the federal government and the ECP, adjourning the hearing until January 27.
In November 2025, the ECP announced that local government elections would be held in Islamabad, issuing a long-awaited decision on the delayed polls in the federal capital.
The commission announced in December that the elections would take place on February 15, 2026, with nomination papers to be submitted from December 22 to 27.The verification of candidates’ nomination papers was to take place from December 30 to January 3, while election symbols were to be allotted to candidates on January 16.
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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 term in Islamabad Capital Territory concluded on February 14, 2021, elections have been repeatedly postponed under various pretexts.