ISLAMABAD: The upcoming local government elections in the federal capital, scheduled for December 20, have been challenged in Islamabad High Court (IHC) with the petitioner arguing that the polls cannot proceed until the legal status of the existing constituency delimitation is conclusively determined.
A petition filed by Chaudhry Amjad Ali, through his counsel Barrister Adil Aziz Qazi, has named the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the min-istries of interior and law, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and other authorities as respondents. It seeks to have the ECP’s order of October 21, 2026, and the accompanying election schedule declared illegal and set aside.
The petition contended that the electoral exercise was being pushed through on the basis of outdated demarcations. It pointed out that the legal tenure of Islamabad’s local government institutions expired in February 2021, and under the Elections Act 2017, polls were required to be held within 120 days of that expiry. More than five years later, the election framework itself remains unresolved.
According to the petition, the ECP has set the submission of nomination papers for November 2 to 6 with polling fixed for December 20, 2026. The commission, the petitioner alleged, intends to conduct the elections on the basis of delimitations whose legality is still under question.
The petition traces a protracted andrepeatedly disrupted delimitation process. The ECP issued a delimitation schedule on December 12, 2024, and later announced a fresh election programme on December 26, 2025, setting polling for February 15, 2026. That programme was subsequently withdrawn following changes to the legal framework. A Local Government (Amendment) Ordinance was then issued in January 2026, proposing a three-town-corporation structure with multi-member wards. A 120-day extension for the completion of the process concluded in September 2026.
The final lists issued through Form 9 on October 14, 2026, showed 130 union councils under three town corporations.
The petition noted that the Islamabad Local Government Act 2015 had provided for 125 union councils and 1,125 general wards, underscoring the shift in the legal and institutional framework that has not been judicially settled.
The petitioner urged the court to sus-pend or postpone the electoral process until a final decision on the matter, and to direct fresh, transparent delimitation in accordance with the law. It also sought a judicial determination of the legal and institutional framework governing delimitation in Islamabad before the local government elections can proceed.
The challenge comes amid a broader pattern of delays that has seen the capital’s local government institutions remain non-functional since their term expired in 2021. The IHC has previously taken notice of the ‘inordinate delay’ in holding the polls with Justice Arbab Mohammad Tahir issuing notices to the ECP and the federal government in a related matter.
The current petition effectively asks the court to decide whether the December 20 election can legally proceed at all, or whether the entire delimitation exercise must first be undone and redone under a settled legal framework.