ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan extended the deadline for submission of nomination papers for local government elections in the federal capital to December 30, to be held on 15th February 2026. The decision has been taken to facilitate the candidates participating in the LG elections, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said in a statement on Friday. The nominations were previously open for filing from December 22-27 (excluding 25th Dec, the Quaid-e-Azam Day). Now, the candidates can submit nomination papers till 30th December (excluding 28th Dec), as per a notification issued by the ECP. The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) LG term expired on 14th February 2021, but the electoral entity failed to hold the LG elections in the ICT within the 120-day stipulated period under Section 219(4) of the Elections Act 2017. This law provides that the ECP shall hold LG elections within 120 days of the expiry of the local government term in a province, cantonment, or ICT. Keeping this in view, the ECP was required to hold the LG elections in the ICT by June 2021. On 18th November, the ECP announced to hold LG elections in the federal capital “immediately,” and directed its secretariat to issue the LG polls schedule forthwith. Still, the related schedule was issued after almost three weeks, on 9th December. On 8th August last year, the poll body formally announced holding LG polls in the ICT on 29th September last year, and issued the related schedule. On 20th August, the ECP revised the ICT LG polls date to 9th October 2024, saying the decision was taken on the request of different political parties and candidates. However, following the passage of the ICT Local Government (Amendment) Act 2024 by the Parliament in August last year, the ECP on 4 September 2024, decided to hold in abeyance the ICT LG elections schedule “till further orders.” Presently, the local bodies are in place in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and cantonments, but LG elections in Punjab and the federal capital have been facing an inordinate delay since 2021. The local government term in Punjab expired on 31st December 2021. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025