The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has decided to contest the Islamabad local elections on December 20, its Islamabad wing has announced.
The party’s regional leadership has directed district and town organisations to file nomination papers in every ward across all union councils between November 2 and 6. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has scheduled the polls for December 20.
Amir Mughal, the PTI’s Islamabad wing president, told Dawn on Wednesday: “We have decided to contest elections on all 125 seats of union councils.”
PTI Islamabad local elections: how the decision was taken
Mughal said the party visited areas across the city to gather input from residents. He claimed that over 95 per cent of people suggested contesting the elections.
“They were of the view that the government can not do more than what it is already doing with the party. So we will contest without going into what kind of election symbols are allotted to our candidates,” he said.
A party press release issued on Wednesday gave more detail on the process. Mughal, Shoaib Shaheen and Malik Aamir held more than 25 meetings across the three electoral constituencies over the past three days.
The decision followed a series of online consultations with around 400 office-bearers. Those consulted represented the regional and district organisations, eight town organisations, all 125 union councils, and various party wings and committees. The wings included the labour wing, the Insaf Students Federation, youth, traders and women’s wings, the advisory council, the working committee and the core committee.
According to the statement, 95 per cent of the office-bearers consulted supported contesting the elections.
The party said it would field candidates committed to public service and loyal to founder Imran Khan’s ideology, preferring dedicated workers who remained at the forefront of its political struggle.
Four postponements feed PTI doubts
Mughal said the commission had already postponed the election four times. He said he feared a further postponement, which he linked to the PTI’s popularity.
The party vowed to press for the elections to be held as per schedule. That promise matters because Islamabad has waited years for a local government vote.
The term of the local government in the capital expired in February 2021. The ECP was supposed to conduct elections within 120 days. Instead, the federal government and the ECP spent years carrying out delimitation and announcing election schedules, only to postpone the polls later.
In the schedule announced last week, October 30 was set for the issuance of a public notice inviting nomination papers. After the completion of various stages of the electoral process, polling will be held on December 20. The ECP has reserved four days, from December 21 to 24, for the consolidation of results.
That four-day gap has itself become a point of dispute. The PTI questioned the proposed announcement of election results four days after polling, claiming that the delay could facilitate manipulation.
What the PTI objects to in the system
The party also criticised the existing local government law. It said the government intended to hold elections under a flawed system that left elected representatives without meaningful powers, even over basic municipal services such as street cleaning, while concentrating authority in the bureaucracy.
The PTI opposed the reported move to replace the direct election of chairmen and vice chairmen with an indirect electoral process through councillors. It described the proposed arrangement as a potential means of pre-poll rigging, alleging that councillors could be intimidated or pressured into changing their votes.
These objections frame the campaign: the PTI is challenging the rules of the vote as well as contesting seats.
The party claimed that Islamabad had traditionally been a PTI stronghold. It expressed confidence that it would secure a sweeping victory, similar to the result it claimed to have achieved in the 2024 general elections.
For voters, the practical dates are now clear. Nomination papers run from November 2 to 6. Polling day is December 20. Results will be consolidated between December 21 and 24. Whether the schedule holds this time, after four postponements, is the question the PTI itself has raised.
Frequently asked questions
When are the Islamabad local elections?
Polling is scheduled for December 20. Nomination papers will be filed between November 2 and 6, and results will be consolidated from December 21 to 24.
