ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday decided to hold the first phase of local government elections in Punjab on Feb 7, 2027, but postponed them in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa until further orders.

According to the electoral watchdog, it halted all preparations for local government elections until further orders after the federal government extended the suspension of Article 140-A of the Constitution — which requires the provinces to establish elected local governments, and decentralise political, administrative and financial powers to them — to the entire province a day earlier.

The decision came even though the ECP ordered on Oct 28 that polls be held immediately in those districts where delimitation had been completed, excluding those included in the 12 districts with special emergency measures.

Federal cabinet extends suspension of Article 140-A

On Wednesday, the federal cabinet transferred the powers of the KP chi­ef minister, who became non-functional after the imposition of governor’s rule and emergency on Oct 11, to Governor Faisal Karim Kundi.

According to an official handout from the government, the move was meant to ensure the smooth execution of administrative affairs, improve governance and handle day-to-day matters during the provincial state of emergency.

On Thursday, it emerged that the government also extended the suspension of Article 140-A to the entire province. The decision was notified through an order issued by the Cabinet Division and published in the Gazette of Pakistan on Nov 4.

The order, a copy of which is available with Dawn, referred to the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule in KP on Oct 11. It also noted that the governor had already been directed to assume control of the provincial government.

Under the new order, Article 140-A will no longer apply to the remainder of the province, in addition to the designated districts where it already stood suspended.

“The governor will now also exercise the powers of the KP chief minister under the Constitution, the laws and rules in force in the province and the KP government Rules of Business, 1985,” the order stated.

It added that the governor will keep the federal government informed of all executive actions taken under the proclamation through monthly reports.

Subsequently, the ECP on Thursday decided to halt preparations for local government polls in KP.

What does this mean?

Explaining the decision, a senior ECP official told Dawn that Article 140-A is the provision that makes local governments mandatory in Pakistan.

He said it obliges each province to establish a local government system by law and devolve political, administrative and financial authority to elected local representatives and also makes holding local government elections the ECP’s constitutional responsibility.

The official said the provision was inserted through the 18th Amendment in 2010 to ensure that local governments were a constitutional requirement, not a favour granted by a chief minister.

He said that once Article 140-A is made inapplicable, the legal basis for holding local government elections disappears, along with the obligation to maintain an elected local government system and to devolve power and funds to it.

In such a situation, he added, executive authority is concentrated in the governor, without elected local bodies as a counterweight.

The official said the suspension was framed as a consequence of the emergency and would remain in force until it is withdrawn or the emergency ends, or it is struck down by a court.