ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet on Wednesday approved a new local government system for Islamabad under which the federal capital will be divided into three councils, each headed by its own mayor.
Under the proposed framework, each council will consist of 21 members, including general councillors as well as representatives for women and minorities.
Sources said the Islamabad Local Government Bill would be presented before the National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior on Thursday for consideration. If approved by the committee, the bill will be tabled before the Senate and National Assembly for passage.
The proposed system is aimed at restructuring local governance in the federal capital and establishing elected councils to manage municipal and other local-level affairs.
The creation of three councils follows amendments introduced earlier this year to the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Act, under which the previous Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad model was replaced with three town corporations.
Islamabad has three National Assembly constituencies, and the earlier ordinance provided for the proposed town corporations to broadly correspond with these constituencies.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had previously withdrawn the schedule for Islamabad’s local government elections after the government changed the structure of the local government system and the mode of elections through an ordinance.
The changes pushed the election process back to the legislative stage, after which the ECP sought details required to undertake fresh delimitation.
In June, the ECP directed the Ministry of Interior and Islamabad chief commissioner to provide pending documents, including notifications defining the boundaries of the town corporations, the number of union councils in each corporation and authenticated, updated maps required for delimitation.
By July, the commission was still awaiting key notifications and legislation needed to proceed with the local government election process.
The ECP had sought notifications regarding town corporation boundaries and maps, details of union councils in each corporation and the relevant legislation.
The proposed system has also faced political opposition. According to sources, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has announced that it will oppose the federal government’s bill in the parliamentary standing committee.
Talks between the PPP and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf were also under way over the possibility of jointly opposing the legislation.
The bill will now have to clear the parliamentary process before the new local government structure can formally take effect.
Once the legislation is approved and the required notifications and delimitation process are completed, the ECP will be able to move towards announcing a fresh schedule for local government elections in Islamabad.
The federal capital has faced repeated delays in holding local government elections due to changes in the legal and administrative framework.
The cabinet’s latest approval marks another step towards replacing the existing arrangement with a three-council local government system in Islamabad.