By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The election commission has fixed 7 February 2027 for the first phase of local government elections in Punjab, the province’s first since 2015, and halted preparations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the federal government suspended the constitutional article on which they rest.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced the Punjab date on Thursday after a hearing before a four-member bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja. The other members were Nisar Ahmed Durrani, Shah Muhammad Jatoi and Babar Hassan Bharwana. The commission had earlier proposed 14 December for the vote.
Punjab’s chief secretary, the provincial Minister for Local Government and Community Development, Zeeshan Rafique, and the department’s secretary appeared before the bench. The chief secretary told the commission that an earlier committee set up by the provincial government had agreed with the ECP that elections would be held between December and January.
He said the government was fully prepared, that all necessary arrangements were complete, and that the information and documents the ECP had sought on returning officers and district returning officers had been supplied. No administrative obstacles remained, he said, and the government had no objection to a schedule being announced.
He nonetheless asked that polling be fixed after 20 January 2027 and held in phases, citing weather and administrative convenience. December and January are typically marked by dense fog in Punjab, particularly in Lahore, he said, which disrupts transport and movement and could hamper election work. He also pointed to the need for adequate daylight on polling day.
The province, he said, must arrange transport and had set aside school buildings for use as polling stations. The administration needed a further two months to finish its preparations, he said, and conditions generally improved after 20 January.
An ECP member observed that the provincial government had previously proposed April. The chief secretary replied that it had reconsidered and had no objection to January or February, but maintained that April would suit better, with longer days and school holidays. Short winter days and cold weather could keep voters at home, he argued.
The commission said it was bound under Articles 140A and 219(d) of the Constitution, read with Section 219 of the Elections Act 2017, to hold local government elections in the provinces, the Islamabad Capital Territory and cantonment boards. It also cited Article 218(3), which requires it to organise elections honestly, justly and fairly, and to guard against corrupt practices.
Accepting the chief secretary’s request “in the interest of justice”, and to provide a level playing field for candidates and voters, the commission fixed 7 February for the first phase and directed its office to take follow-up action. According to the Express Tribune, the commission reserved its decision before issuing the short order. The statement did not specify dates for later phases.
Punjab’s last local government elections were held in phases between October and December 2015 under the Punjab Local Government Act, 2013. The elected councils took office in 2017 after indirect elections for mayors and chairpersons.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government dissolved the councils in April 2019, before their terms ended. The Supreme Court struck down the move and restored them, and they completed their term on 31 December 2021.
Successive provincial governments have since amended or replaced the local government law, and each change forced the ECP to restart its preparations, including delimitation and election planning. The commission says those changes and administrative delays are largely to blame for the postponements.
Article 140A and the Elections Act require polls within 120 days of the end of councils’ terms. For Punjab, that deadline passed in April 2022.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa halted
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the ECP has stopped all preparations until further orders after the federal government extended the suspension of Article 140-A to the entire province a day earlier, the commission said in a statement.
On 28 October, the ECP had decided to hold local elections across the province except in 12 districts judged to face acute security threats. An Area Representative and Development Council (ARDC) was created to oversee those districts under emergency measures.
That council followed the federal government’s imposition of an emergency and governor’s rule in the province on 11 October, which it justified by citing the “provincial government’s deliberate disengagement from the fight against terrorism”. President Asif Ali Zardari approved the move on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and the prime minister’s coordinator for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa affairs, Ikhtiar Wali Khan, said the next day that governor’s rule could last until elections if required, according to ARY News.
The commission met on Thursday under the chief election commissioner to consider Order No 3, issued on 4 November. Clause 2 of the order suspends Article 140-A and extends its application to all districts not covered by the earlier order.
Article 140-A deals with the establishment of local governments in the provinces, and its second clause makes the ECP responsible for holding the elections. The commission examined what suspending it in the remaining districts would mean for the electoral process and concluded that holding elections there was no longer possible. All steps taken so far have been stopped until further orders.
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