The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced the schedule for local government elections in Islamabad, with polling set for December 20, 2026.
According to the schedule, candidates can submit nomination papers from November 2 to 6, while scrutiny of the papers will take place from November 9 to 13.
Candidates will be able to file appeals against the rejection of their nomination papers from November 14 to 18. The appellate authority will decide on the appeals between November 19 and 23.
The deadline for withdrawing nominations has been set for November 25, while election symbols will be allotted to candidates on November 26.
The consolidation of election results is scheduled to take place from December 21 to 24.
ECP orders elections under 2015 law
The schedule follows an earlier order by the ECP directing that local government elections in Islamabad be held under the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Act, 2015.
A five-member commission headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja issued the order on Wednesday while hearing proceedings concerning repeated delays in holding elections in the federal capital.
During the hearing, Special Secretary Zafar Iqbal Malik told the commission that constituency delimitation had been carried out six times and election schedules issued four times.
The previous schedule had set polling for February 2026, but the election process was disrupted following the federal government’s introduction of an amendment ordinance.
Officials told the commission that the ordinance expired on September 6, while the final delimitation of constituencies was published on October 14.
The commission was also informed that reminder letters had been sent to the Ministry of Interior twice, but the required local government rules had not been provided.
Chief election commissioner questions delays
The special secretary said the federal government had yet to enact a new local government law and argued that elections should proceed under the existing 2015 legislation.
The interior secretary acknowledged the facts presented during the hearing but argued that holding elections under the 2015 law would affect constituency delimitation.
The chief election commissioner disagreed, observing that conducting the polls under the existing law would not affect the delimitation process.
“It seems that the government does not want to hold local body elections in Islamabad,” the chief election commissioner remarked, adding that the commission was issuing the order under compulsion.
The newly announced schedule sets out the next stages of the electoral process, with polling due on December 20.
