ECP Postpones Islamabad local government elections

Islamabad: Following recent amendments to the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Act, 2015, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has postponed the local government elections that were originally scheduled for October 9, 2024, until further notice.

In a notification issued today, the ECP announced: “The Election Programme issued via notification dated August 20, 2024, for conducting local government elections in Islamabad Capital Territory is hereby held in abeyance until further orders.”

This decision follows President Asif Ali Zardari’s assent to the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2024 on August 29. The bill, which was passed in both the National Assembly and Senate amid opposition protests, introduces significant changes to the structure of union councils (UCs) in Islamabad.

According to the amendment, the number of general seats in UCs has been increased from six to nine, while the number of seats for women has been increased from two to three. Additionally, Section 7 of the bill mandates that UCs be delimited into nine wards for the election of general members, compared to the previous six wards.

The amended Section 15 stipulates that all nine general members of each union council will be directly elected by the voters registered in their respective UCs.

Moreover, an amendment to Section 17 replaces references to the Representation of the People Act, 1976, with the Elections Act, 2017. Section 11 has also been updated, detailing that each union council will now have a chairman and vice chairman as joint candidates, along with nine general members, one woman, one representative from peasants, workers, or business and technocrats, one youth member, and one non-Muslim representative.

The ECP had earlier rescheduled the polling date from September 29 to October 9 in response to requests from political parties. However, with the latest amendments and the resultant need for redelimitation, the elections have now been delayed indefinitely.