Islamabad:
In a major development, the Election Commission in Pakistan (ECP) has ordered the election of local government in Punjab, to be held in the last week of December 2025, in accordance with the provisions of the local Government Act 2022.
A four-member bench of the Election Commission-led by the Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja and including Nisar Ahmed Durrani, Shah Muhammad Jatoi and Babar Hassan Bharwana issued the Directive after hearing the long-term case of the delay in Punjab’s local government election.
The special secretary of local authorities from the Punjab government showed up for the ECP’s five members.
According to the Commission’s Directive, the boundary process in Punjab will begin on Thursday and is expected to be completed within two months and pave the way for local government elections at the end of the year.
During the procedure, CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja expressed dissatisfaction with the criticism directed at the Election Commission on the delay in implementing LG selection and noting: “It is embarrassing to us that elections have not yet been held in Islamabad and Punjab.”
Previously, the ECP had reserved its verdict in the Punjab election in the local government, where CEC promised to announce it later that day, Wednesday.
The ECP officials said that Punjab’s local organs’ term of office ended on December 31, 2021 without election held for over three years. During this time, the provincial government made five changes to the local government’s legislation with a sixth underway.
Despite three phases of demarcation and an officially declared schedule, local authorities have not yet taken place. Officials said that by 2022, the Local Government Act remains in force, making it possible to make elections through either EVMS or ballots.
The DG Act confirmed no legal barriers to hold elections according to the 2022 rules. The ECP’s special secretary stated that boundary in Punjab would take two to two and a half months and must begin immediately and warn that the Supreme Court has warned against further delays.
The Punjab government said its standing committee approved the new local government’s legislation on August 6, but floods and the lack of an assembly session delayed its passage. The bill will be submitted in the next session.
