ECP announces delimitation for long-delayed Islamabad LG polls

The Election Commission of Pakistan has set out a fresh delimitation timetable for the long-delayed local government elections in Islamabad, beginning a process that could eventually lead to a vote in the federal capital after years of postponement.

According to the schedule notified on Tuesday, administrative work such as obtaining maps and relevant data will take place from July 22 to July 31. The delimitation process is due to be completed on October 13, when the final lists of constituencies and union councils are to be published. Only after that step will the election schedule be issued, according to the feed summary.

The move comes after repeated delays in holding local government polls in Islamabad. The term of the last local government expired in February 2021, leaving the capital without an elected civic setup for years. The delay has continued even as residents in the city have faced a range of municipal problems, including water shortages and unpaved streets.

The issue has also been shaped by changes to Islamabad’s local government framework. In January this year, President Asif Ali Zardari approved an ordinance amending the Local Government Act 2015. The changes replaced the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad with three town corporations and expanded the powers of the government-appointed administrator. The ordinance also removed the previous six-month limit on the administrator’s tenure, saying the post could continue until new elections are held.

The ordinance further allowed the administrator to impose taxes, fees, rates, rents, toll charges and surcharges. Under the revised structure, each of the three town corporations is to cover, as far as practicable, the territorial limits of a National Assembly constituency. Islamabad has three National Assembly seats.

The local government vote had already been delayed multiple times over the past few years. The feed summary says elections had been planned on several occasions and later cancelled, with officials citing the need to further strengthen the local government law and improve the system. It also notes that in February, the ECP had decided to hold elections for 125 union councils, but those polls were postponed after fresh legislation to divide Islamabad into three town corporations.

The report also recalls that thousands of nomination papers had been submitted earlier for elections in all 125 union councils. Despite that, the schedule was not carried out as planned.

The feed summary says the latest delimitation schedule now sets the stage for the next phase, but whether the polls will actually be held on the basis of these delimitations remains uncertain.

This report is based on a monitored public feed and attributed to Dawn Pakistan. Source: Dawn Pakistan - https://www.dawn.com/news/2017338/ecp-announces-delimitation-for-long-delayed-islamabad-lg-polls