The proposal, prepared by a special committee headed by Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, recommends giving Islamabad residents their own elected assembly and chief executive.
Under the proposed model, Islamabad would have a 27-member assembly. Twenty-one members would be directly elected by voters, with five seats reserved for women and one for minorities.
The draft proposes allocating seven assembly seats from each National Assembly constituency in Islamabad. The chief executive could hold the title of chief minister or mayor and would be accountable to the elected assembly.
The proposed administrative structure would place 27 departments under the Islamabad government, including health, education, environment and municipal services. However, law and order and the capital's master planning would remain under the federal government.
The proposal also recommends restructuring the powers of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and other institutions to bring Islamabad's fragmented administrative system under a more coordinated structure.
The committee has called for a comprehensive legal framework and new legislation to implement the proposed changes. If approved, the model would significantly alter the existing governance and administrative structure of the federal capital.
Under the draft, the Election Commission of Pakistan would be responsible for conducting elections to the Islamabad Assembly. Matters relating to law and order and master planning would continue to be handled by the federal government through the relevant ministry or governor.
The proposed Islamabad government would have administrative and financial autonomy similar to a provincial system. The committee has also recommended transferring the powers and functions of the CDA to the Islamabad local government, along with other institutions operating under the Local Government Act.
The Islamabad local government would be empowered to formulate its own rules of business. The proposal also recommends appointing a chief secretary and four secretaries to oversee the capital's administrative affairs, with the four secretaries assigned responsibilities for different administrative groups and departments.
Federal institutions serving the entire country would continue to operate in Islamabad under the proposed arrangement.
The special committee included Federal Ministers Ahsan Iqbal and Mohsin Naqvi, while Rana Sanaullah and Federal Minister Musadik Malik also contributed to the preparation of the proposed model.
The proposal is part of the wider government discussion on creating new provinces and administrative units. If implemented, the Islamabad model would represent the government's first major administrative experiment of this kind, potentially bringing significant changes to how the federal capital is governed.
