The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday announced it will conduct local government elections in Islamabad and directed its office to prepare the election schedule.
Announcing it reserved decision, the ECP noted the amendment to Section 15 of the ICT Local Government Act, 2015, through the ICT Amendment Act, 2024, was not in “consonance with the provisions of the Constitution, the Elections Act, 2017 and Section 20 of the ICT Local Government Act, 2015.”
It said that under the Election Act, the ECP has the authority to appoint its own officers for elections.
The decision also noted that the ECP may designate district returning officers (DROs), returning officers (ROs) and assistant returning officers (AROs) from government departments, the judiciary or other public institutions for the conduct of polls. It ruled that secretaries of union councils cannot fulfil the responsibility of conducting local government elections, and that polls on reserved seats must also be carried out by officials nominated by the Commission.
According to the ruling, the tenure of Islamabad’s local government ended on Feb. 14, 2021. The ECP has stressed that as an independent constitutional body it has the responsibility to hold local government elections and is obliged to do so within 120 days of the expiry of a local government’s term. In this regard, it said, the ECP had decided to conduct the polls and instructed its office to prepare the detailed election schedule and complete arrangements.