Islamabad High Court suspends Islamabad local government election schedule

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has suspended the schedule for local government elections in the federal capital, putting the December 20 polls on hold until the next hearing on November 26.

A single-member bench comprising Justice Umair Majeed Malik announced the reserved verdict on Friday on a petition filed by citizen Chaudhry Amjad Ali, suspending the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) notification of October 21 and the election schedule issued the same day. The court issued notices to the commission and other respondents, directing them to submit their reports and para-wise comments by November 26.

What the petition argued

The petitioner’s counsel, Barrister Qazi Adil Aziz, argued that fresh delimitation was carried out in 2024, after which the election schedule was announced — but the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Ordinance 2026 then changed the structure, creating three town corporations and raising the number of union councils from 125 to 130. He contended that after the ordinance ceased to operate, the schedule was issued without restoring the previous delimitation, leaving it legally questionable. The ECP had issued a revised delimitation schedule on August 25, 2026, and published the final list of 130 union councils on October 14.

December 20 polls now uncertain

The ECP had announced a fresh schedule on October 22, fixing December 20 as polling day. That date is now uncertain: the court’s written order states that the October 21 order and the election schedule “shall remain suspended until the next date of hearing”.

No elected local government since 2021

Islamabad’s last local government elections were held in 2015, and the elected body’s term expired in February 2021. Section 219(4) of the Elections Act, 2017 requires the Election Commission to hold fresh local government elections within 120 days of a term expiring, yet legal and administrative complications have delayed the exercise repeatedly. The ECP issued a schedule on December 26, 2025, fixing February 15, 2026 as polling day, but later withdrew the programme.

A day after the CEC’s charge

The order came a day after Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja accused the federal government of trying to sabotage the Islamabad local government elections, insisting the polls would go ahead on December 20 as scheduled. The court’s stay has now halted the schedule itself.

Nomination fee also questioned

The same bench also sought responses on a separate petition challenging the ECP’s decision to collect the Rs2,000 nomination paper fee from candidates again under the revised schedule, although they had already paid it under the previous one.