ECP says it is ready to hold municipal elections in 23 KP districts after completing delimitation
Election Commission of Pakistan in Islamabad. Photo: Radio Pakistan
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday initiated consultations with the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government on fixing the schedule for long-delayed local government elections in 23 districts of the province.
The tenure of the LGs in KP ended on March 15 this year. According to the KP Municipal Act, 2013, local representatives are elected for a four-year term.
According to a statement issued by the ECP spokesperson, the commission held an important meeting to discuss the election plan. The meeting was chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja and attended by members of the ECP, the ECP Secretary, the KP Chief Secretary, the Provincial Secretary for Local Government and other senior officials of the Provincial Government and the Commission.
Addressing the meeting, the Chief Election Commissioner emphasized the importance of establishing local governments and said holding local government elections was a constitutional requirement under Article 140 of the Constitution.
“Under Section 219(4) of the Electoral Act, the Electoral Commission is required to conduct local government elections within 120 days of the expiry of the term of office of the local governments,” he was quoted as saying.
The commission was informed that the term of office of the municipal institutions in KP had expired on 14 March and 19 June 2026 respectively.
The ECP was also informed that it had completed the delimitation process in the province’s 23 districts and was fully prepared to conduct elections there.
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The commission said consultations with representatives of the provincial government were underway in accordance with section 219(3) of the Elections Act and rule 15(1) of the KP Local Council (Conduct of Elections) Rules, 2021, so that the election date for the 23 districts could be announced in accordance with the law.
Briefing the meeting, the KP chief secretary said the provincial government had received the ECP’s letter on consultations on the election schedule on July 8 and had immediately sent a summary to the provincial cabinet.
“We are administratively ready to assist the Election Commission and make all necessary arrangements for the elections,” he said.
The ECP asked the chief secretary to provide the commission with a copy of the summary.
The meeting decided that consultations on fixing the election date for the 23 districts would resume after 15 days, the ECP spokesperson said.
