President promulgates ordinance amending ICT LG Act

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday promulgated an ordinance amending the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Act, overhauling the local government structure in the federal capital.

The ordinance abolishes the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) and replaces it with Town Corporations. The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) will now be divided into three town corporations, each aligned with the territorial boundaries of a National Assembly constituency.

Each town corporation will consist of a number of union councils, as determined by the government. The union councils will be delimited based on population equality, taking into account the most recent official census and administrative convenience.

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The ordinance stipulates that no changes can be made to these delimitations once the election schedule for local government elections is announced.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is required to delimit and notify the union councils in accordance with the guidelines set out in the Election Act, 2017.

A transition clause in the ordinance allows the existing Metropolitan Corporation to continue operating until the new town corporations are formally constituted and notified.

Under the amended law, “local government” is defined to include union councils, town corporations, and administrators appointed by the government.

Each town corporation will have a mayor, two deputy mayors, and the chairmen of all union councils within the corporation as general members.

Reserved seats will include four women, one peasant or worker, one trader or businessman, one youth member, and one non-Muslim member.

In cases where local government structures are non-functional, the government can appoint an administrator to perform duties until an elected body is in place.

At the union council level, general members will be elected by secret ballot. The top nine candidates by vote count will be elected as general members.

Reserved seats will be filled indirectly by a “show of hands” from general members, and the chairman and vice-chairman will be elected in the same manner.

At the town corporation level, the union council chairman automatically becomes a general member. The town corporation members will elect the reserved seats by show of hands and jointly elect a mayor and two deputy mayors, with only Town Corporation members eligible to run for those positions.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026