ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has suspended the schedule for local government elections in Islamabad. On Friday, the court stayed the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) notification regarding the elections, originally set for October 21, until November 26.
Justice Umair Majeed Malik delivered this reserved verdict in response to a petition filed by Amjad Ali, who challenged the election schedule based on issues related to constituency delimitation. The court issued a notice to the ECP, ordering it to respond by November 26.
Ali’s petition argued that the authorities revised constituency boundaries in 2024 before introducing a new Local Government Ordinance in 2026. His counsel contended that the ordinance had ceased to be in effect, yet the ECP announced the election schedule without reverting to the previous delimitation arrangements.
Islamabad has been without an elected local government since February 2021, when the previous administration’s term expired.
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Under Section 219(4) of the Elections Act, 2017, the ECP must conduct fresh local government elections within 120 days of the previous body’s term ending.
The court’s order followed remarks by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja on Thursday, who accused the federal government of trying to obstruct the electoral process.
During a hearing concerning an alleged code-of-conduct violation in the NA-77 Gujranwala by-election, Raja criticised the government’s decision to prevent teachers from performing election duties.
He questioned how the commission could arrange sufficient polling staff without teachers and maintained that the ECP, not the government, had the authority to issue electoral directions.
Raja insisted that the Islamabad elections would proceed as scheduled. The court subsequently suspended the notification pending the commission’s response.
