The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday announced the schedule for local government elections in the Islamabad Capital Territory.
The term of the local government expired in February 2021, but elections could not be held and were further delayed due to “new legislation.”
In a notification also posted to social media, the ECP called on voters in the ICT to elect their representatives to the general seats of union councils.
It set Dec 19 as the date for public notice inviting nomination papers to be issued by the returning officers (ROs), while Dec 22-27 (excluding Quaid-i-Azam Day on Dec 25) as the dates for filing of nomination papers with the ROs by the candidates.
The names of the nominated candidates will be published on Dec 29, and the nomination papers will be scrutinised by the ROs from Dec 30 to Jan 3, 2026.
From Jan 5-8, appeals may be filed against the decisions of the ROs to accept or reject the nominations. These appeals will be decided by the Appellate Authority from Jan 9-13, and the revised candidate list will be published on the 14th.
Jan 15 marks the final day of withdrawal of candidature, the day after which election symbols will be allotted and the list of contesting candidates published.
The polling day will take place after 29 days on Sunday, Feb 15, with the results being consolidated between the 16th and 19th of the month. The ECP, in its notification, added that polling hours will be observed from 8am to 4pm and that all polling activities would take place during office hours.
The ECP also issued directives to ensure “that elections to the local government are conducted honestly, justly, fairly, in accordance with the law and to ensure that the corrupt practices are guarded against”.
It directed that all executive authorities in the federation would “neither announce any development project nor use state resources in local government polls calculated to influence the elections in favour of a particular candidate”.
“If any person in government service misuses his official position in any manner in order to influence [the] results of the elections, he shall be liable to be proceeded against under the law,” the notification added.
It further said that after the issuance of the LG election programme, no transfers or postings of government officers and officials, including autonomous bodies and authorities, were to be made in Islamabad without the commission’s prior approval until the publication of the election results. The same applied to the granting of leave for these individuals.
“In case leave has already been sanctioned, the officer will not relinquish his charge without approval of the honourable commission,” the notification said.
In addition, it prohibited the president, prime minister, chairman and deputy chairman of the Senate, Speaker, deputy Speaker of an Assembly, federal minister, ministers of states, governors, chief ministers, provincial ministers and advisers to the prime minister, chief ministers and chairmen or vice chairmen from participating in an election campaign after the issuance of this programme.
“However, members of any assembly, Senate and local government are allowed to participate in the election campaign,” it added, on the condition that they strictly abide by the ECP’s code of conduct.
The ECP said that any holder of public office who was found to have violated any provision of the election laws or the ECP’s instructions would be “proceeded against as mandated in law”.
LG polls in Islamabad have faced a five-year delay. The ECP stated that the terms of the local government in Islamabad expired on February 14, 2021, and elections were supposed to be conducted within 120 days after it.
The commission finally issued the order in November to hold the polls, after voicing concern over the delay.
