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Monday, 7 September, 2026 | 24 Rabiul Awwal, 1448
Rs 20.00 | Vol XVII No 163 | 8 Pages | Lahore Edition
Islamabad to get 27-member assembly, chIef executIve under proposed overhaul g
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DRAFT, SUBMITTED TO PM, SEEKS TO ESTABLISH A FORMAL ISLAMABAD CAPITAL TERRITORY GOVT WITH ITS OWN ELECTED LEGISLATURE
IT ALSO SEEKS CHIEF EXECUTIVE AND 27 ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENTS FOR ICT
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IT PROPOSES TRANSFERRING ALL CDA FUNCTIONS EXCEPT MASTER PLANNING TO NEW ISLAMABAD GOVT
PROPOSED ICT GOVERNMENT ACT 2026 REQUIRES CABINET APPROVAL BEFORE LEGISLATION IS INTRODUCED IN PARLIAMENT
Ahsan Iqbal offers two options: 160 districts or 15 new provinces ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
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ISLAMABAD SALEEM JADOON
high-level committee has presented Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif with a draft proposal to establish a 27-member elected assembly for the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), along with a chief executive and 27 administrative departments, it emerged on Sunday. The proposal, prepared by a committee headed by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and comprising Federal Ministers Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Musadik Malik and Rana Sanaullah, Minister of State Talal Chaudhry, both National Assembly members from Islamabad and the Interior Secretary, seeks to establish a formal
Islamabad Capital Territory Government with its own elected legislature. Under the proposed structure, the assembly would comprise 27 directly elected members, five reserved seats for women and one reserved seat for a minority, according to the draft. Each National Assembly constituency in Islamabad would have seven corresponding constituencies for the proposed Islamabad assembly. The Election Commission of Pakistan would conduct elections for the assembly, while all members would be required to meet the constitutional qualifications prescribed under Articles 62 and 63. The assembly would elect its own leader, who would be designated either
Planning Minister Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Saturday clarified his remarks regarding the creation of new provinces, saying that most of Pakistan’s social and human resource indicators had continuously declined over the past 15 years and required significant improvement to achieve the country’s national development goals. He said the main reason for Pakistan’s poor performance in the social sector was the failure to transfer powers and resources to the grassroots level after the 18th Amendment, coupled with the centralisation of powers at the provincial level. The planning minister said the chief minister or mayor and would serve as the Chief Executive of the Islamabad Capital Territory Government. The chief executive would remain accountable to the elected assembly. Departments and functions The draft proposes placing 27 government departments under the new Islamabad Capital Territory Government, with health, education, environment and municipal services coming under the ju-
Arab, Islamic FMs reject Israeli plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
Foreign Ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates on Sunday strongly condemned statements by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz regarding the displacement of the Palestinian people from the Gaza Strip, including proposals for plans and mechanisms aimed at forcibly removing Palestinians from their land. In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the eight ArabMuslim countries termed the inflammatory statements and proposals a flagrant violation of the principles of international law, including international humanitarian law, and a direct threat to the legitimate and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. “The Ministers reaffirm their unequivocal rejection and condemnation of any attempts or plans aimed at displacing the Palestinian people, whether within or outside the Occupied Palestinian Territory, under any pretext or justification,” the joint statement, shared by the Foreign Office Spokesperson, said.
Pakistan condemns demolition of century-old mosque in India, 'drive to erase Islamic heritage' ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
Pakistan on Sunday strongly condemned the demolition of a century-old mosque in India’s Uttar Pradesh, describing it as part of an “Islamophobic and Hindutva-driven campaign to erase the Islamic heritage” in the country and calling upon the international community to take cognisance of the systematic persecution of Muslims. Responding to media queries regarding the demolition, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan termed the move “a reprehensible action against a historic Islamic place of worship”. The spokesperson recalled that the demolition of the Babri Mosque in 1992 remained an “enduring symbol of this ideology of
They warned against the grave consequences of turning calls for forced displacement into declared pol-
religious intolerance, prejudice and hatred”. “Pakistan calls upon the international community to take immediate cognisance of the systematic persecution of Muslims by Indian authorities,” the statement said, highlighting the “continued desecration and destruction of their places of worship under state patronage”. Khan called for accountability of the Indian authorities for actions against the religious freedom and cultural heritage of all minorities, particularly Muslims. According to The Indian Express, the mosque, located inside a Collectorate in Saharanpur, was demolished a day earlier. The demolition came three days after a district court dismissed an appeal against an order holding that the structure stood on government land and was unauthorised.
icy or concrete measures aimed at uprooting Palestinians from their land.
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Dar follows up Makkah Defence Alliance’s Istanbul understandings with Saudi, Turkish FMs ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held separate telephone conversations with the Saudi and Turkish foreign ministers on Sunday to follow up on understandings reached at the inaugural meeting of the Strategic Political and Defence Committee under the Makkah Defence Alliance, held in Istanbul last month, the Foreign Office said. In a series of posts on social media platform X, the Foreign Office said DPM Dar spoke separately with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. During his conversation with the Saudi foreign minister, the two leaders discussed regional and international developments, including matters of mutual interest at multilateral fora.
“They also discussed follow-up on the understandings reached at the inaugural meeting of the Strategic Political and Defence Committee of the Makkah Defence Alliance, held in Istanbul, and agreed to remain in close contact,” the Foreign Office said. The joint defence pact was signed on August 7 and provides that an attack against one member state would be treated as an attack against all member states. Its inaugural meeting was held on August 31 in Istanbul, where the three countries decided that the alliance’s secretariat would initially be headed by Pakistan for three years. The three countries also agreed to work towards strengthening their defence capabilities and enhancing the cohesion of their armed forces through joint activities, robust defence industry cooperation and joint technology development and production. Through the institutionalised
and resolute implementation of the Makkah agreement, the three countries further agreed to make essential contributions to regional peace and stability. In a separate post, the Foreign Office said Dar also spoke with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and thanked him for hosting the inaugural meeting of the Strategic Political and Defence Committee under the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement in Istanbul. The two leaders followed up on the understandings reached at the meeting and discussed ways to further advance cooperation under the framework, the FO said. “The two foreign ministers also exchanged views on regional and international developments. They also discussed matters of mutual interest and opportunities to further strengthen cooperation at multilateral fora,” it added.
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country now had two options to address the issue. The first was to establish empowered local governments in 160 districts, with resources directly provided through the Provincial Finance Commission. The second option, he said, was to establish 12 or 15 new provinces through consensus, as the existing administrative structure had become overloaded with a population of 260 million. Iqbal stressed that whichever option was pursued, significant administrative and governance reforms were needed to improve social and human resource indicators and enable the country to achieve its national development objectives. risdiction of the local government. Law and order and master planning, however, would remain under the federal government and would be exercised through the relevant federal minister or a governor of the ICT. All functions of the Capital Development Authority (CDA), except master planning, would be transferred to the proposed Islamabad government.
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21 fitna al-Khawarij terrorists killed in Kp operations RAWALPINDI
STAFF REPORT
Security forces killed 21 terrorists belonging to the Indian-proxy Fitna Al-Khawarij in multiple engagements across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) between September 3 and 5, the military’s media wing said on Sunday. In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that following a successful engagement by security forces on the night of August 31 and September 1 along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in North Waziristan, 10 more terrorists who had holed up in the area were killed. This took the total number of Fitna Al-Khawarij terrorists attempting to infiltrate Pakistan and effectively neutralised by security forces to 25, the ISPR said. Fitna Al-Khawarij is the state-designated term for the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). In another encounter in North Waziristan, security forces detected the movement of another group of terrorists along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. “Own troops effectively engaged this group of khawarij,” the ISPR said, adding that, as a result of a “precise and skilful engagement”, seven terrorists were killed. Four more terrorists were killed in two separate encounters in Kohat and Dera Ismail Khan districts during joint operations, according to the statement. The ISPR said the repeated incidents along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border had once again “vindicated Pakistan’s persistent stance” regarding the “abject failure” of the Afghan Taliban regime to prevent Afghan soil from being used by terrorist organisations under its patronage for cross-border terrorism. “The Afghan Taliban regime has consistently failed to ensure effective border management and honour its international counterterrorism obligations,” the military’s media wing said. The statement said security forces remained “resolute and unwavering” in their commitment to defending the country’s frontiers. “Sanitisation operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indiansponsored khawarij found in the area,” the ISPR said. It added that “the relentless Counter Terrorism campaign under vision ‘Azm-e-Istehkam’, as approved by the Federal Apex Committee on National Action Plan, by Security Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies of Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country.”