Overview
- Justice Muhammad Azam Khan issued notices to the federal government and the Election Commission and clubbed cases filed by Jamaat-e-Islami and the Markazi Muslim League, with the next hearing on January 27.
- The court declined an immediate stay of the ECP notification withdrawing the schedule, so the cancellation of the timetable remains in effect.
- Petitioners are asking the Islamabad High Court to strike down the presidential ordinance amending Islamabad’s local government law and to direct immediate polls.
- The ECP had announced a February 15, 2026 polling date with December nomination windows before withdrawing the timetable following legal challenges.
- Filers argue Islamabad has lacked an elected local government since February 2021 and that statute requires new elections within 120 days of a term’s expiry.