PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mohammad Social Afridi has agreed with the mayors and chairmen of city and tehsil councils to constitute a committee of lawmakers to deliberate upon legal options to allow the existing setup to function till next elections of local bodies.

The provincial government and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Council Association reached the agreement in a meeting held here in Chief Minister’s House.

The meeting undertook a detailed review of matters arising from the scheduled expiry of the tenure of local government representatives on 15 March.

After reaching the agreement with government to form committee for legal options, LCA called off its protest outside Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.

Speaker of provincial assembly will lead the panel to weigh legal options

The mayors and chairmen of tehsil and village and neighbourhood councils staged protest time and again during the previous few months to demand of the government to extend their tenure, gave them legal power and release funds to them for developmental activities.

Discussions during the meeting remained focused on ensuring institutional continuity, legal clarity and administrative stability within the local governance framework, according to a statement issued here on Tuesday.

Provincial Minister for Local Government Meena Khan Afridi, LCA president and mayor of Mardan city Himayatullah Mayar, Peshawar city mayor Zubair Ali and other elected members of local bodies and senior officials of local government department attended the meeting.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister underscored the government’s commitment to preserving the continuity of local government system through a consensus-driven and legally sound roadmap.

He informed the participants of the meeting that the speaker of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly would be directed to constitute a bipartisan committee comprising members from both treasury and opposition benches.

The committee will convene its meeting within the current week and will be mandated to reach at a decision prior to 15 March before ending the tenure of the representatives elected in the first phase of local government elections. The tenure of elected local government representatives will expire on June 30.

The committee will deliberate on transitional arrangements, including the option of maintaining the existing local government structure until the conduct of fresh elections, subject to legal and constitutional considerations.

Following the chief minister’s assurances, Local Council Association called off its planned protest. The committee, to be formed under the chairmanship of provincial assembly speaker, will also hear the position of nominated members of Local Council Board to ensure inclusive stakeholder consultation.

In his video message, Himayatullah Mayar said that during the meeting the chief minister acknowledged that LCA’s demands were genuine as local governments were paralysed and no powers and funds were given to them.

He said that chief minister agreed with LCA that local governments would continue functioning despite ending their tenure on March 15 till holding next elections of local bodies.

“The continuation of the existing setup will be helpful for people as a vacuum will be created after ending the tenure of elected local government representatives,” he said.

Mr Mayor said that provincial government also agreed with them that their suggestions would be incorporated for strengthening and empowering local government system. He said that there representatives of LCA would be members of the committee.

Peshawar city mayor Zubair Ali said that they were hopeful that chief minister would honour the agreement made with local bodies’ representatives.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2026