ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Islamabad has decided to contest the 2026 local government elections, according to a statement issued after a meeting chaired by the party’s Islamabad president, Aamir Mughal, ARY News reported.
PTI Islamabad said Aamir Mughal, Shoaib Shaheen and Malik Aamir held more than 25 meetings across the three constituencies over three days. The decision to contest the elections was taken after consultations with 400 office-bearers, with 95 per cent supporting participation.
The party said online consultations had also been completed with office-bearers of regional, district, town and union council organisations, as well as all party wings.
PTI Islamabad has directed its office-bearers to submit nomination papers for every ward in each union council from November 2 to November 6.
The party said workers who had remained at the forefront of the movement for Imran Khan’s release and supported his political ideology would be given priority. Candidates would be selected from among workers committed to public service, it added.
PTI Islamabad alleged that the government and the Election Commission had avoided holding local government elections after issuing the schedule four times. The party said it would force them to withdraw from the electoral process for a fifth time as well.
Despite what it described as a flawed local government law, PTI said it would defeat the government in the elections.
The party criticised the existing law, claiming that elected local government representatives did not even have the authority to ensure the cleaning of streets and neighbourhoods. It alleged that the actual powers of local representatives remained with the bureaucracy.
PTI also criticised the end of direct elections for chairmen and vice chairmen, calling it a precursor to rigging. It said electing them through councillors amounted to pre-poll rigging, as councillors could be pressured or threatened into changing their decisions.
The party also questioned the release of election results four days after polling, alleging that the delay was intended to facilitate rigging.
PTI Islamabad said it would award tickets to candidates with strong character who were committed to public service. The party expressed confidence that it would sweep the local government elections, as it claimed to have done in the 2024 general elections.
