• CEC asks why emergency proclamation would be ‘obstacle to holding elections’
• ECP official says law and order concerns loom over polling staff, voters’ safety
• Scheduled hearing on Punjab LG polls postponed until tomorrow
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday reserved its verdict on the holding of local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The verdict is expected to be announced today (Wednesday).
A bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja was hearing the provincial government’s request to defer LG elections in 12 districts, citing law and order concerns and imposition of emergency.
Adviser on Law to the KP government Amir Javed told the bench that emergency had been imposed in various districts on Oct 11 and troops had also been deployed in certain areas under Article 245 of the Constitution.
Holding elections in the 12 districts was not possible under the prevailing circumstances, he argued.
He also cited imposition of governor’s rule and absence of provincial ministers, saying the government needed time to address the situation in accordance with ground realities. He requested additional time to consult the attorney general and the governor. ECP special secretary Zafar Iqbal said delimitation had been completed in 23 districts where the commission could proceed to hold elections through an official order.
He proposed that a schedule be issued for the remaining districts, while a decision be taken to hold polls where delimitation was complete.
The law adviser, however, contended that Article 140-A of the Constitution could not be applied to 12 of the province’s 36 districts and therefore the local government system was not applicable there. Out of these 12, delimitation had not been done in six, while of the remaining 24 districts, it had been completed in 16, he said. He said the provincial assembly had amended the law through a private member’s bill, which had created ambiguity, and any further amendment would now have to be referred to the National Assembly.
Law and order is the primary challenge, he maintained. The CEC questioned whether these were the only grounds for not holding elections and asked as to why polls could not be conducted in the areas where delimitation had already been completed.
He pointed out that the KP Assembly had amended the law to increase the population threshold for constituencies, creating complications in the delimitation process. He questioned why imposition of emergency should serve as an obstacle to holding elections, pointing out that elections had historically taken place globally even during times of war or emergency.
The special secretary pointed out that where emergency was in force, there were significant law and order concerns and questioned how voters would be able to cast ballots and how security of polling staff could be ensured.
The CEC noted that the law specified the number of union councils and it had also increased the population threshold, and asked what the ECP could do if compliance with both requirements was not feasible. The special secretary replied that the commission had the authority to resolve the issue.
Observing that the public believed the ECP did not want to hold local government elections whereas political governments were reluctant to conduct them, the CEC said: “The truth should come before the public.”
He said that holding LG polls despite governor’s rule or emergency would be an achievement for the provincial administrative setup, adding that while the public may perceive that the ECP was reluctant to conduct elections, the reality was that political parties themselves did not wish to hold them.
Meanwhile, in view of the new situation, the hearing fixed for Oct 28 concerning local bodies elections in Punjab has been postponed to the next day. The term of local governments formed in the first phase had expired in March this year, while the tenure of those elected in the second phase ended in June this year.
Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2026
