Federal Cabinet Approves Three-Mayor System for Islamabad
Federal capital’s new structure divides Islamabad broadly along its three National Assembly constituencies, with each town corporation to have one mayor and two deputy mayors elected indirectly through union council leadership.
ISLAMABAD: Islamabad’s local government system is undergoing a major restructuring, with the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) being replaced by three separate town corporations under amendments to the capital’s local government framework.
The federal cabinet had approved the restructuring proposals in early January, after which President Asif Ali Zardari promulgated the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026. The changes replaced the single MCI structure with three town corporations.
Under the amended framework, each town corporation is to correspond, as far as practicable, with the territorial limits of one of Islamabad’s three National Assembly constituencies. This effectively creates three separate municipal tiers within the federal capital instead of one citywide metropolitan corporation.
Each town corporation will have one mayor and two deputy mayors, meaning Islamabad will have a total of three mayors and six deputy mayors under the new arrangement. Reports on the approved framework say the mayors and deputy mayors will serve four-year terms.
Unlike a direct citywide mayoral election, the leadership of the town corporations will be chosen through an indirect electoral process involving union council chairpersons. This represents a significant departure from the concept of residents directly choosing a single mayor for the entire capital.
CDA and Elected Local Governments
The restructuring also changes the institutional relationship between elected local governments and the Capital Development Authority (CDA). Under the previous MCI framework, municipal responsibilities included water supply, sewage disposal, storm-water drainage, sanitation, solid-waste management and other local infrastructure and services.
Reports on the new model have indicated that town corporations are intended to receive administrative and financial authority, with certain municipal functions associated with the CDA/local administration expected to be assigned or transferred to elected local bodies. The precise distribution of functions will depend on the applicable law, rules and notifications implementing the new structure.
Fresh Delimitation Ahead of Local Government Elections
The restructuring has also directly affected the long-delayed local government election process. The Election Commission of Pakistan withdrew an earlier election schedule in January after the ordinance changed both the structure of Islamabad’s local governments and the mode of elections.
The ECP subsequently began the fresh delimitation process. According to the delimitation schedule announced in July, final constituency and union council lists are scheduled to be published on October 13, 2026, after which an election schedule is expected to follow.
The changes mark one of the most substantial reorganisations of Islamabad’s municipal governance since the ICT Local Government Act 2015, replacing the concept of a single metropolitan corporation and mayor with three geographically distinct town administrations.
