Until the new elections, each board of directors will operate under an interim configuration consisting of two members.
RAWALPINDI:
The four-year term of elected public representatives in 37 of the 44 cantonment boards across the country has ended. New elections will now take place in these cantonments.
In view of the end of their mandate, the elected members of these cantonment councils have been removed from their functions and interim councils are being formed. The Ministry of Defense has sent a letter to the Department of Military Lands and Cantonments (MLC).
Until the new elections, each council will operate under the leadership of a two-member interim council comprising one civilian appointee and one military appointee.
Each cantonment council will forward the names of these members to the regional director of the MLC. These decisions were taken during a meeting chaired by the director general of the MLC.
The four-year tenure of elected public representatives in 37 cantonment boards, including Rawalpindi, Chaklala, Lahore, Karachi and others, ended on October 10, 2025.
Later, the positions of elected vice presidents and elected board members were eliminated with immediate effect, and they were prohibited from attending any future board meetings.
For the remaining seven cantonment boards, a decision will be taken once the term of their elected members ends. Until the next local elections, these 37 cantonment councils will function under the leadership of a two-member caretaker council.
Executive officers of all cantonments have been directed to submit by November 26, before close of office hours, the names of one designated civilian member and one designated military member.
The civilian member will not contest the next cantonment elections while the soldier will be appointed by the headquarters of the police station concerned.
These names must be transmitted to the general director of the MLC through the regional director of the MLC. Decisions from the last meeting of the elected councils must also be presented to the two-member interim council.
Four years ago, local elections in all cantonment councils were held on a partisan basis, under the supervision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). However, the mandate of elected officials runs from the date of their swearing-in.
Cantonments are permanent bases of the Pakistan Armed Forces, which are administered by cantonment boards under the control of the MLC. Cantonments are established and governed by the Cantonments Act, 1924. In recent times, the demographic character of most of the cantonments of the independence era has changed.
