ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Wednesday stayed the Quetta local government elections scheduled for Dec 28, 2025, after an appeal challenged the delimitation of constituencies conducted on the basis of the 2017 census.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan, and comprising Justice Ali Baqir Najafi and Justice Aamer Farooq, issued an interim order on an appeal jointly filed by Qadir Shah and Munir Ahmed, registered voters of Quetta.
The appellants argued that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) carried out delimitation using the 2017 census despite the official notification of the 2023 Digital Census on Aug 7, 2023, under Section 17(2) of the Census Act 2023 and 140A of the Constitution, read with Article 8.
Senior counsel Senator Kamran Murtaza moved the appeal under Article 185(3) of the Constitution against the Balochistan High Court’s (BHC) rejection on Nov 13, 2025, on a review application challenging an earlier Oct 6, 2025, order.
Questions how local govt elections based on 2017 census could be held in 2025
During the hearing, the FCC questioned how local government elections could be held in 2025 on the basis of the 2017 census and asked whether the provincial government had been consulted on the election schedule.
When the response to the query came in the negative, the bench issued an interim order postponing the Dec 28 polls. Proceedings were adjourned until the third week of January 2026.
Earlier, on Dec 10, the ECP rejected a petition by Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti seeking postponement of the Quetta local government elections, citing the law and order situation in the provincial capital and the suspension of internet services.
Arguing before the FCC on Wednesday, Senator Murtaza said the delimitation exercise suffered from “serious defects, irregularities and discrepancies”, which he said appeared to have been introduced by the ECP, its delimitation authority and the provincial election commissioner. He contended that such deviations undermined the fairness and transparency of the electoral process.
The petition pleaded that delimitation was carried out in violation of Section 222(3) of the Elections Act 2017 by relying on outdated census data, thus disenfranchising a large segment of the population.
It further alleged that rural areas, including Sariab, Panjpai and adjoining localities, were declared urban without justification or adherence to statutory criteria, and that constituencies were gerrymandered to favour certain individuals.
The appellants also claimed
voters from certain wards were arbitrarily placed on the electoral rolls of other wards, making it impossible for intending candidates to fulfil the requirement of being registered in the ward from which they intend to contest.
The appeal argued that the BHC “committed a grave error” in dismissing the review application by holding that the issues had already been considered, adding that the original judgement of Oct 10, 2025, was silent on jurisdictional defects and proceeded on the “erroneous assumption” that delimitation had been conducted in accordance with the 2023 census.
The petition maintained that the impugned high court order involved substantial questions of law of public importance, including the interpretation of Articles 8, 25 and 140A of the Constitution and Section 17(2) of the Census Act 2023, read with the Elections Act 2017 and the Balochistan Local Government Act 2010.
It also challenged the high court’s view that delimitation was a “policy matter” immune from judicial review, arguing that the Supreme Court has held violations of mandatory statutory provisions in delimitation to be justiciable.
The petition also contended that key prerequisites for local government elections in Quetta were still missing, including infrastructure, notified village or neighbourhood councils, rules for direct election of mayors and notified venues for council meetings, rendering the process premature and unlawful.
Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2025