• Freezes administrative boundaries in the province
• Moves to hold local govt elections in 42 cantonment boards across the country

ISLAMABAD: In a significant step towards conduct of long overdue local government election in Punjab, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday issued the schedule for the delimitation of union councils in the province.

Delimitation is the legal prerequisite for holding local government polls. Once the final list is published, the ECP will be in a position to announce the election schedule for Punjab’s local bodies.

According to a notification issued under Article 222(b) of the Constitution and relevant sections of the Elections Act 2017, Punjab Local Government Act 2025, and Delimitation Rules 2026, the ECP has laid out a seven-step timeline to complete the exercise by Aug 10.

Under the schedule, all administrative arrangements for delimitation of union councils in Punjab is to be completed by April 16 (today).

The preliminary list of constituencies will be prepared between April 20 and May 21 and published for public objections on May 25.Voters will be able to file objections from May 26 to June 23, while delimitation authorities must dispose of all objections by July 22.

Final decisions will be communicated to delimitation committees by Aug 4, with the final list of constituencies set for publication on Aug 10.

The schedule indicates that groundwork for Punjab’s local government elections is now formally underway. Final decisions will be communicated to delimitation committees by Aug 4, with the final list of constituencies set for publication on Aug 10.

The schedule indicates that groundwork for Punjab’s local government elections is now formally underway, with Aug 10 marked as the cut-off for completing delimitation.

The delimitation authorities and delimitation committees have also been notified.

In a related development, the ECP has ordered an immediate freeze on all changes to administrative boundaries in Punjab, directing that no alterations be made until the delimitation process for union councils is completed.

Under the directive issued on Wednesday, boundaries of all existing administrative units — including town corporations, municipal committees, and tehsil councils — will stand “ceased forthwith.”

The ECP invoked Article 218(3) of the Constitution and Section 219(6) of the Elections Act, 2017 to enforce the ban.

The commission said the move is necessary because delimitation of union councils must be carried out with due regard to existing boundaries of districts, tehsils, Halqas, Patwar Circles, and revenue estates. Any change in these units during the process would “hamper smooth proceedings,” the notification stated.

LG elections in Punjab have been delayed for long and the matter goes back to 2019. In April that year, the then PTI-led Punjab government had dissolved the local government institutions, which were later restored by the Supreme Court and subsequently completed their term on Dec 31, 2021.

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.

This meant that LG elections in Punjab were supposed to be held by the end of April 2022, but it could not be made possible as the provincial government kept on amending the LG law from time to time.

On Oct 8, 2025, the ECP had ordered LG polls in December and asked Punjab to immediately start the delimitation exercise and complete the same within two months. This order, however, was reversed in a meeting chaired by CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja on Oct 21 in light of the promulgation of a new LG law, the Punjab Local Government Act 2025 (PLGA), after a request by the Punjab government.

The ECP withdrew its original delimitation schedule for the elections issued under the 2022 local government law, giving the provincial government four weeks to finalise the delimitation and demarcation rules.

Meanwhile, senior officials from defence ministry and military lands and cantonments on Wednesday assured the ECP of their full cooperation for the timely conduct of elections in cantonments.

The assurance was held out during an important meeting of the ECP held here with Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja in the chair. In addition to the ECP members, the DG MLC and additional secretary of defence also attended the meeting.

In his opening remarks, the CEC highlighted the importance of establishing local governments and stated that local governments exist in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Balochistan, while under Article 140(A) of the Constitution, conducting local government elections was the responsibility of the ECP.

“However, these elections are conducted under laws framed by the provincial governments,” the CEC said in an apparent attempt to justify commission’s failure to hold long overdue local government elections in Punjab and Islamabad.

During the meeting, the participants were briefed that the last local government elections in the 42 cantonment boards across the country were held on Sept 12, 2021. The term of cantonment boards is fixed at four years from the date of oath-taking of members. The term of the last Kamra Cantonment Board was completed on April 11, 2026.

The ECP had issued a schedule for delimitation of wards in the 42 cantonment boards across the country on Jan 16 and the final list of constituencies will be published on April 20.

“The Election Commission is prepared to conduct the local government elections of cantonment boards,” a senior ECP official said.

It was stated in the meeting that under Section 219(4) of the Elections Act, 2017, the commission is bound to hold elections within 120 days of the expiry of the term of the respective local government. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct the local government elections of cantonment boards by Aug 8.

During the meeting, the com-mission was requested to consult with the federal government for determining the date of holding local government elections in cantonments.

Published in Dawn, April 16th, 2026