President issues ordinance for local body elections in Islamabad

• An ordinance for local bodies elections in Islamabad has been issued. 
• Elections will be conducted with help of electronic voting machines and i-voting.
• Mayor will be directly elected from ICT. 

President Dr Arif Alvi has issued an ordinance for local bodies elections in the federal capital.

Electronic voting machines and i-voting will be used in the Islamabad local body elections, while the mayor of the local government will be directly elected from the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), according to the 109-page ordinance. 

According to the Presidential Ordinance, the Metropolitan Corporation of the ICT will be the Neighborhood Council and the Metropolitan Corporation will have all areas of cantonment under its jurisdiction, except the ICT. The population of each Neighborhood Council will be 20,000.

Islamabad's local government will run under a directly elected mayor and the tenure of the local government and neighbourhood council will be four years. The mayor of Islamabad will have a 12-member cabinet, said the ordinance.

The number of ICT Council members will be 70, according to the ordinance. To participate in the elections, the candidate is required not to be below 22 years, while a youth member will be aged between 18 and 25.

The Neighborhood Council will include general members, women, minorities, youth and senior citizens. Meanwhile, the ICT Council will include women, minority members, youth, businessmen, labourers, farmers and senior citizens.