LAHORE: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday decided to hold long-delayed local government elections in Punjab during the last week of December, with the process of delimitation set to begin today (Thursday) and completed within two months.

The ECP stated in a letter to the Punjab local government and community development department secretary that the elections would be conducted based on the existing Punjab Local Government Act (PLGA) of 2022.

The order, issued by a four-member ECP bench, comprising Chairman Sikandar Sultan Raja, Nisar Ahmed Durrani, Shah Muhammad Jatoi and Babar Hassan Bharwana follows the expiration of a three-month deadline the commission had granted the Punjab government to complete its preparations.

“In case of failure, the commission will issue appropriate orders regarding conduct of local government election in Punjab,” the ECP asserted, referencing its previous warning when it allowed the extension.

Delimitation process begins today, set to conclude in two months

The Punjab government did not respond after the three-month period lapsed, prompting the ECP to schedule Wednesday’s hearing.

During the hearing, the Punjab local government secretary again requested more time, explaining that new local government legislation was delayed due to the recent floods. He said a standing committee had finalised a new bill to be presented in the Punjab Assembly.

The commission, however, rejected the request. It stated that it had exhausted all possible efforts and that “Punjab has acted in a dilatory manner to delay the conduct of local government elections on one or the other pretext.”

Under Article 140-A of the Constitution and Section 219(4) of the Elections Act, the ECP is bound to hold elections within 120 days of the expiry of the term of the local government institutions.

The earlier local government bodies in Punjab, disbanded by the PTI-led government in April 2019 and subsequently reinstated by the Supreme Court, reached the end of their term on December 31, 2021.

Eventually, the elections were scheduled for the end of April 2022, but they were continually postponed due to the provincial government’s repeated amendments to the Local Government (LG) law.

The ECP had repeatedly reached out to the Punjab government, urging them to consult and promptly organise the local government elections in the province to comply with constitutional obligations.

The commission said it successfully conducted the local government elections in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and cantonments despite the pitfalls faced.

Since 2019, the ECP noted that Punjab changed five local government laws, while the new law was still under the process of legislation.

The ECP said it had conducted three rounds of delimitation — first round started on June 25, 2020 but was postponed on the request of Punjab, while it completed second and third rounds, which started from Dec 27, 2021 and Dec 8, 2022, respectively.

The commission also issued a delimitation schedule for the fourth time on Jun 20 last year but was withdrawn on the request of the Punjab government.

The commission said it also completed the process of enlistment of electoral group twice and issued election schedule once, which was suspended by the Lahore High Court’s Multan bench.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2025