ISLAMABAD: Progressive political parties, trade unions, student organisations, intellectuals and civil society members have warned against any “opaque and undemocratic” scheme to impose yet another decision-making structure for the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) and demanded a transparent consultation process to put in place an empowered local government system.
In a meeting convened in Islamabad on Monday by Awami Workers Party (M) and attended by representatives of the National Party, Islamabad Citizens Network, Women Democratic Front, Anjuman Rehribaan, Alliance for Urban Rights, Huqooq-i-Khalq Party and others, it was asserted that Islamabad’s three million residents had no say in how the city was governed and were completely subjected to the bureaucratic dictates of the Capital Development Authority (CDA).
In recent times, the CDA and the government have ruthlessly evicted thousands of working people from their homes, devastated local ecologies and subjugated the entire development model of the federal capital to property dealers and other mafias.
According to a statement, the participants insisted that hollow claims about developing Islamabad along the lines of Shanghai and Manhattan cannot be used to gloss over the total lack of accountability of the CDA and other vested interests. Islamabad’s sole experience with local government after the 2016 election clarifies that unelected bureaucrats are unwilling to relinquish their power, and so a meaningful local government system must be premised on the clear supremacy of elected institutions alongside substantial fiscal powers”, they stated.
The meeting participants said that recent revelation that the government committee headed by the planning minister had prepared a draft law for a ‘new’ elected government in Islamabad was actually generating suspicion because it was perceived to be part of a wider series of steps to entrench authoritarian and anti-people policies rather than deepen democracy.
“If there is no meaningful attempt to include Islamabad’s main stakeholders - its people - then any such plan will be forcefully resisted,” they warned.
Meanwhile, PPP Human Rights CellGeneral Secretary Malaika Raza has said allpolicy decisions affecting the federal capital must be driven exclusively by its native residents rather than external administrators.
It is unacceptable to ignore Islamabad’s locals and longstanding native communities when it comes to matters related to their own city. She questioned how people who rely on Google maps to move from one sector to another could truly understand the ground realities and local issues faced by native families of Islamabad.
Ms Raza said governance decisions for Islamabad should be taken by those who understand the city’s problems, needs and real conditions from personal experience. She also said that officers who come to Islamabad from other parts of the country to assume positions must not disregard the opinions, knowledge and lived experience of Islamabad’s local and native population.
The PPP representative said effective governance requires leaders who possess a personal understanding of the city’s unique problems and requirements. She cautioned incoming officers against dismissing the insights and lived experiences of the native population.
The federal capital, she noted, is defined by its generational families rather than just its state offices and road networks, casting doubt on the viability of administrative models designed by officials who return to their home districts during national holidays like Eid.
According to Ms Raza,governance of Islamabad cannot succeed without the active participation and consultation of the city’s locals and native people. She said future decisions for Islamabad will be made through their voice and consultation, and externally imposed decisions will not be accepted,she added.
Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2026
