ISLAMABAD: Local government elections in Islamabad are expected to be postponed after President Asif Ali Zardari approved an ordinance amending the Local Government Act 2015.
Read More: Islamabad LG Act amended, city polls reset
The ordinance replaces the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) with three town corporations and grants the government-appointed administrator additional powers and an indefinite tenure. It allows the administrator to levy taxes, fees, rents, tolls, or surcharges and remain in office until new local government elections are held.
اسلام آباد کے بلدیاتی انتخابات ملتوی کرنے کےلیے وزیر اعظم کی سفارش پر صدر مملکت نےاسلام آباد لوکل گورنمنٹ آرڈیننس جاری کردیا نئے آرڈیننس کے بعد نئی حلقہ بندیاں کرنا ہونگی 15 فروری کو شیڈول الیکشنز پھر ملتوی ہوجائیں گے۔۔۔ pic.twitter.com/at7QiiSPMr
— Fahim Akhtar Malik (@writetofahim) January 12, 2026
The elections had been scheduled for February 15, and thousands of candidates from all 125 Union Councils had already submitted nominations. Sources say the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is unlikely to hold the polls on the original date.
Under the new structure, each town corporation will have a mayor, two deputy mayors, four women representatives, one peasant/worker, one trader/businessman, one youth member, and one non-Muslim member. Each corporation will, as far as possible, align with the boundaries of a National Assembly constituency, with Islamabad having three such constituencies.
The last local government term expired in February 2021, and elections have been repeatedly delayed, leaving around 2.5 million residents without an elected local body to address issues like water shortages and unpaved streets. Past ECP schedules were cancelled multiple times, including once a day before polling.
Read More: Islamabad to get three mayors under new LG system
PML-N former deputy mayor Syed Zeeshan Ali Naqvi said the ordinance aims to create a stronger local government system with improved service delivery, rejecting claims by PTI that the amendments were politically motivated.