ISLAMABAD – Islamabad’s local government revolved around a single metropolitan corporation and a citywide mayor, and that model is about to change under sweeping new setup, as the capital will be divided into three town corporations, bringing three mayors and six deputy mayors into the city’s local governance structure.
The restructuring follows amendments to the capital’s local government framework, approved by the federal cabinet in early January and later formalised through the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026, promulgated by President Asif Ali Zardari.
Under the previous system, Islamabad was administered through a single metropolitan corporation. The new framework divides the capital into three town corporations, with each corporation expected, as far as practicable, to correspond to one of Islamabad’s three National Assembly constituencies.
In simple terms, instead of having one municipal government responsible for the entire capital, Islamabad will have three separate local administrations.
Each town corporation will have its own:
Mayor
Two deputy mayors
Four-year term, according to reports on the approved framework
This means the capital will have three mayors and six deputy mayors under the new system.
Another important change is the way the municipal leadership will be chosen. Under the new arrangement, residents will not directly elect a single mayor for the entire capital. Instead, the mayors and deputy mayors will be selected through an indirect electoral process involving union council chairpersons.
This is a significant departure from the idea of a directly elected citywide mayor. The new model is instead based on three separate town administrations and an electoral process involving representatives at the union council level.
The restructuring could also change the relationship between Islamabad’s elected local governments and the Capital Development Authority (CDA).
Under the previous MCI system, municipal responsibilities included essential services such as water supply, sewage disposal, storm-water drainage, sanitation, solid-waste management and other local infrastructure and public services.
The new framework envisages greater administrative and financial powers for the town corporations. Some municipal responsibilities currently associated with the CDA or local administration are also expected to be assigned or transferred to elected local governments.
However, this does not mean that every CDA function will automatically move to the town corporations. The precise division of responsibilities will depend on the relevant laws, rules and official notifications issued to implement the new structure.
The restructuring has also affected the capital’s long-delayed local government elections. When the new ordinance changed both the structure of Islamabad’s local governments and the method of electing their leadership, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) withdrew the election schedule that had been issued in January.
ECP subsequently started a fresh delimitation process to redraw the electoral framework according to the new local government structure. According to the delimitation schedule announced in July, the final lists of constituencies and union councils are scheduled to be published on October 13, 2026.
After the delimitation process is completed, the ECP is expected to announce a fresh schedule for the local government elections.
The stated framework also aims to give elected local governments greater administrative and financial authority. However, the practical impact of the reform will depend largely on how responsibilities are divided between the new town corporations, the CDA and the local administration.
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