2023 Islamabad local government elections

The 2023 Islamabad local government elections or the 2023 Islamabad local bodies election, (Urdu: اسلام آباد بلدیاتی انتخابات) will be held in the Islamabad Capital Territory. Around one million voters will choose their representatives in the federal capital's long-delayed local government elections, according to a schedule released by the Election Commission of Pakistan.[1][2][3][4]

2023 Islamabad local government elections
TBD
125 union councils + 1 metropolitan corporation
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Leader Shehbaz Sharif Imran Khan Bilawal Bhutto
Party PML(N) PTI PPP
Leader since 13 March 2018 25 April 1996 30 Dec 2007
Mayor of Islamabad before election

Pir Adil Gillani
PML-N

 Elected Mayor of Islamabad

TBD

The candidates for the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) sparred a lot during the most recent elections, which were conducted in 2015. The PML-N won the elections, and Sheikh Anser Aziz was later elected as Islamabad's first mayor.[5] Aziz later resigned in 2020 and was replaced by Pir Adil Gillani.[6][7]

Background

Elections in Islamabad were long overdue since the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation, the city's previous municipal administration, finished its five-year term in February 2021. The government and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) both failed to hold the elections within the required four months. The ECP has finally released the election timetable for Islamabad's 101 Union Councils (UCs) after an egregious delay.[8] The number of UCs has now been expanded by the government from 50 to 101 due to Islamabad’s population increase according to the 2017 census.[9]

On 23 December 2022, the Senate passed a bill that increased the number of UCs from 101 to 125. On 27 December 2022, a five member bench of the ECP, headed by the Chief Election Commissioner, conducted a hearing which concluded in the postponement of the elections “for the time being”. Because of the increase in the number of UCs, the ECP would have to conduct fresh delimitations and redo the whole election process, which would at least take 4 months. On 30 December 2022, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) accepted identical petitions filed by the PTI and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) set aside the ECP’s order of postponement of the elections and directed it to hold the elections as per schedule, that is on 31 December 2022.[10][11]

However, elections were not held on 31 December 2022, despite lines of voters outside polling stations. The ECP stated it would be “practically impossible” to hold the elections on such a short notice and subsequently filed an intra-court appeal against the IHC’s decision. Concurrently, the PTI filed a petition in the IHC seeking contempt of court proceedings against the ECP for not holding the elections.[12][13]

On 15 February 2023, the IHC sought a fresh schedule for the elections from the ECP after Parliament increased the number of UCs from 101 to 125.[14]

On 29 July 2023, the ECP decided to convene a meeting on 2 August to decide on the date of the elections.[15]

Seat allocation

The local government election in Islamabad Capital Territory consists of 101 Union Councils and 1 Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad.[16]

S.No Union Councils Metropolitan Corporation
1 Chairman and vice chairman Mayor and Deputy Mayor
2 Six general members Chairman of union councils
3 Two women members Women members

Elections

Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) are the political parties that are most likely to compete against one another in the elections. The PPP is a strong electoral force in Islamabad and works with the PML-N in the federal government's alliance. In order to defeat the PTI, there is a likelihood that these two parties will run united candidates in numerous Union Councils.[17]

See also

2015 Islamabad local government elections

References
  1. Abbasi, Kashif (2022-10-21). "Much-delayed local govt elections in Islamabad on Dec 24: ECP". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  2. "Islamabad local govt candidates to be allotted election symbols tomorrow". Pakistan Today. 2022-11-30. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  3. News Desk (2022-10-21). "ECP announces local govt elections for Islamabad on Dec 24". Pakistan Observer. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  4. "ECP - Election Commission of Pakistan". www.ecp.gov.pk. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  5. Abbasi, Kashif (2022-10-21). "Much-delayed local govt elections in Islamabad on Dec 24: ECP". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  6. Web Desk (2020-10-06). "Mayor Islamabad Sheikh Ansar Aziz resigns from post". ARY NEWS. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
  7. "PML-N defeats PTI to clinch Islamabad mayor's seat amid anti-govt movement". The Express Tribune. 2020-12-28. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
  8. CHAUDHRY, MUHAMMAD ASAD (2022-10-21). "ECP to hold local bodies polls in Islamabad on 24 December". www.nation.com.pk. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  9. "Islamabad local govt candidates to be allotted election symbols tomorrow". Pakistan Today. 2022-11-30. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  10. Burney, Umer (2022-12-30). "IHC directs ECP to hold Islamabad LG polls tomorrow". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  11. Abbasi, Malik Asad | Kashif (2022-12-28). "ECP postpones Islamabad LG polls at eleventh hour". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  12. Burney, Dawn com | Umer (2022-12-31). "PTI seeks contempt proceedings against ECP for not holding LG polls in Islamabad". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  13. Khan, Malik Asad | Iftikhar A. (2022-12-31). "'Impractical' court order puts ECP in a bind". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  14. Asad, Malik (15 February 2023). "IHC seeks fresh schedule for local govt polls". DAWN News. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  15. Alvi, Mumtaz (2023-07-29). "ECP convenes meeting to fix dates for LG polls in Punjab, Islamabad". The News International. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  16. "Local Government System in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT)". PakVoter. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  17. Abbasi, Kashif (2022-10-21). "Much-delayed local govt elections in Islamabad on Dec 24: ECP". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
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