ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan’s federal cabinet approved a contentious overhaul of the capital’s local government law Friday, clearing the way for three town corporations — each led by a mayor — and raising the odds that municipal polls set for Feb. 15 will be pushed back. The changes, expected to be enacted through an ordinance awaiting President Asif Ali Zardari’s assent, would align the Islamabad LG system with Punjab’s model and trigger fresh delimitations, Jan. 3, 2026.
The cabinet approved a package of amendments to the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Act, 2015, including renaming the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad as “Town Corporations,” according to Dawn’s report on the cabinet decision. Officials cited by Aaj English said a summary of the ordinance has been sent to the president for assent.
Islamabad LG system overhaul: three town corporations, three mayors
Under the revised Islamabad LG system, Islamabad would be divided into three town corporations corresponding to the capital’s three National Assembly constituencies. Each unit would have a mayor and two deputy mayors, and selected Capital Development Authority municipal powers would be devolved to elected local governments, Samaa TV reported.
Structure: The Islamabad LG system would move from one metropolitan corporation to three town corporations, each broadly aligned with a National Assembly constituency.
Leadership: Each town corporation would be headed by a mayor, supported by two deputy mayors.
Functions: The ordinance proposes shifting certain CDA-linked municipal functions to elected councils to strengthen local control.
Why the Islamabad LG system changes could stall Feb. 15 voting
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had already issued a Feb. 15 election program and launched the candidate process, according to a Dec. 9 schedule announcement by The Express Tribune. But the cabinet’s decision came after nomination papers had already been submitted, according to The News, leaving little time for fresh delimitations and a revised election program if the ordinance is promulgated.
The Islamabad LG system rewrite has also drawn criticism from labor unions and civil society groups, who argue the amendments could reshape representation in local councils. They say the changes allow “businessmen and technocrats” to compete for seats reserved for peasants and workers and reduce the women’s quota from 33% to 7%, according to Daily Times.
What the long delay has meant for the Islamabad LG system
Local governments in the capital completed their last five-year term in February 2021, and the Islamabad LG system has remained without an elected mayor since then. A 2025 briefing by the election watchdog FAFEN said Islamabad has had only two elected mayors since it became the federal capital — both serving between 2015 and 2021 — and that elections due within months of the term’s expiry have repeatedly slipped.
The legal and political wrangling predates the latest ordinance. In May 2024, the Islamabad High Court sought reports from federal officials and the ECP on what it called an “inordinate delay” in holding local polls while the municipal corporation was running through “makeshift arrangements,” Dawn reported at the time. In January 2023, then-President Arif Alvi returned unsigned a bill that would have raised the number of union councils, saying it would further delay elections, according to Arab News.
For now, the ECP has not formally announced a new polling date. Supporters of the amendments say the three-corporation model could improve accountability and service delivery, while critics and opposition parties argue the Islamabad LG system is being reset midstream — extending a yearslong cycle in which polls are announced, challenged and delayed.
