Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has decided to participate in Islamabad’s local government elections scheduled for
December 20, announcing plans to field candidates across all 125 union council seats.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has set December 20 as the polling date for the local government elections in the federal capital.
PTI Islamabad President Amir Mughal said the party had decided to contest every seat after consulting residents across the city. He claimed that more than 95 per cent of the people approached by the party supported participation in the polls.
Mughal said residents believed the government could not impose further restrictions on the party beyond those already in place. He added that PTI would contest the elections regardless of the electoral symbols allotted to its candidates.
He also expressed concern over repeated delays, saying the ECP had postponed the elections four times and suggesting that further postponement could occur because of the party’s popularity.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, PTI said Mughal, Shoaib Shaheen and Malik Aamir had conducted more than 25 meetings across the capital’s three electoral constituencies over the previous three days.
The party said its decision followed online consultations with around 400 office-bearers from regional and district organisations, eight town-level organisations, all 125 union councils and various party wings and committees.
These included the labour wing, Insaf Students Federation, youth, traders and women’s wings, as well as the advisory council, working committee and core committee.
According to PTI, approximately 95 per cent of the consulted office-bearers supported contesting the elections.
The party said it would nominate candidates committed to public service and aligned with the political ideology of its founder, Imran Khan.
Preference, it added, would be given to dedicated and principled party workers who had actively participated in PTI’s political struggle.
PTI also pledged to press the relevant authorities to hold the elections on the announced date, citing the repeated postponements of the local government polls.
Criticising the existing local government law, PTI alleged that the proposed electoral framework would leave elected representatives with limited authority over municipal services, including street cleaning, while concentrating decision-making powers in the bureaucracy.
The party also opposed a reported proposal to replace the direct election of chairmen and vice chairmen with an indirect voting process involving councillors.
PTI argued that such a system could create opportunities for pre-poll manipulation, claiming councillors might face pressure or intimidation to change their votes.
The party further questioned the proposed four-day interval before the announcement of consolidated election results, alleging that the delay could create opportunities for interference.
PTI maintained that Islamabad had traditionally been a stronghold for the party and expressed confidence in securing a significant victory in the local government elections. It compared its expectations with the electoral performance it claims to have achieved in the 2024 general elections.
The term of Islamabad’s previous local government expired in February 2021, after which the ECP was required to conduct fresh elections within 120 days.
However, the federal government and the election commission spent subsequent years undertaking delimitation exercises and announcing election schedules, with the polls repeatedly postponed.
Under the latest schedule announced by the ECP, public notices inviting nomination papers were set to be issued on October 30. Following the completion of the remaining electoral procedures, polling is scheduled for December 20.
The commission has allocated December 21 to 24 for the consolidation of election results.
