Islamabad High Court Suspends December 20 Local Government Elections

• The Islamabad High Court has suspended the ECP’s election schedule, putting the December 20 local government polls on hold.
• Justice Omer Majid Malik issued the stay order following a petition challenging compliance with legal requirements.
• The court has directed the Election Commission and other respondents to submit their replies by November 26.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has suspended the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) schedule for local government elections in Islamabad, placing the December 20, 2026, polling date on hold following a legal challenge to the electoral process.

Justice Omer Majid Malik issued the interim order on Friday while hearing a petition filed by citizen Amjad Ali, who questioned whether the necessary legal requirements had been fulfilled before announcing the elections in the federal capital.

The court suspended the ECP’s election notification and issued notices to the Election Commission and other concerned parties, directing them to submit detailed responses by November 26. The matter is expected to be taken up again after the respondents file their replies.

According to the written order, the court accepted the petitioner’s request for interim suspension of the election schedule. The stay applies to the programme issued by the ECP on October 21 and will remain effective until November 26, pending further proceedings.

During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel, Advocate Adil Aziz Qazi, argued that the Election Commission was constitutionally and legally responsible for conducting free, fair and transparent elections. He maintained that the electoral authority had failed to properly address certain legal requirements while proceeding with the local government election process.

The latest judicial intervention represents another setback for Islamabad’s long-delayed local government elections, which have faced repeated postponements because of legislative amendments, changes to the local government structure and disputes over electoral arrangements.

Islamabad last held local government elections in 2015, while the elected representatives completed their constitutional term in February 2021. Since then, the federal capital has remained without an elected local government for nearly five years.

Efforts to conduct fresh elections have repeatedly encountered legal and administrative complications, particularly changes in the number of union councils and amendments to legislation governing the capital’s local government system.

The Election Commission had re-announced the election schedule on October 22, fixing December 20 as the polling date. The decision followed earlier delays and directed the ECP Secretariat to immediately issue the election programme under the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Act, 2015.

The decision to proceed under the existing legal framework came after the federal government failed to introduce the anticipated new legislation governing local bodies in Islamabad.

At the time, the Election Commission expressed disappointment over the continued postponement of elections, observing that repeated legislative changes had disrupted preparations and rendered earlier delimitation exercises ineffective.

The ECP had previously scheduled local government elections for February 15, 2026, but that programme was subsequently withdrawn following the promulgation of a Presidential Ordinance introducing changes to the local government structure.

The latest suspension has once again created uncertainty over the election timetable, with further proceedings scheduled for November 26, when the court is expected to consider responses from the Election Commission and other parties.