LAHORE:
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has officially withdrawn the timetable for Punjab’s local government elections, confirming The Express PK Press Club’s previous report that the passage of the Punjab Local Government Act, 2025 would once again derail people’s democracy in the province.
In a meeting chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja, the ECP reviewed the situation arising out of the enactment of the new law.
The members of the commission, as well as the secretary and senior officials, were briefed in detail on the legal and administrative implications of the ongoing electoral process.
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According to an official statement, the Punjab Assembly’s passage and the Governor’s assent to the Act, 2025 effectively repealed the Punjab Local Government Act, 2022, under which the ECP had already started demarcations.
With the previous law now overturned, the commission decided to withdraw the delimitation schedule announced in September for elections scheduled for December.
“The timetable for local elections in Punjab has been withdrawn,” the ECP said in its statement. “The Punjab government has been given four weeks to frame the rules of delimitation and demarcation under the 2025 Act. No further extension will be given.”
Officials confirmed that the decision was taken at the request of the Punjab government, which sought additional time to prepare the rules and finalize administrative arrangements under the new legislation.
All delineation work across the province has been halted until the new framework is completed.
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The ECP further noted that if the Punjab government fails to submit the rules within four weeks, the matter would be taken up for consideration and further direction.
The move validates the Express PK Press Club’s October 13 report, which warned that the rushed passage of the Punjab Local Government Act, 2025 had “thrown into limbo the ongoing delimitation process and elections scheduled for December.”
This report also details how the law was passed amid opposition outcry, with critics accusing the Treasury benches of deliberately delaying elections and undermining local governance.
With the official confirmation of the ECP, Punjab’s local elections now face an indefinite postponement, the fourth such postponement in about a decade. The province last held local elections in 2015 under the 2013 law.
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The 2019 PTI legislation dissolved these elected bodies prematurely, promising a new system that never materialized. After the PTI’s ouster, the PML-N-led coalition passed the 2022 Act, which also failed to hold elections due to administrative and procedural disputes.
Analysts say the recurring cycle of legislative changes has eroded public confidence in political commitment to decentralized governance. They argue that successive governments, regardless of party, have resorted to legal maneuvers to retain the financial and administrative control that constitutionally belongs to local institutions.
“The government keeps rewriting the law to buy time and retain power at the top,” said a political observer familiar with Punjab’s local government system. “This trend has effectively ruled out the idea of popular democracy. »
Read: ‘Constitution amended to prevent audit of votes’
For Punjab’s 120 million residents, the continued absence of elected local representatives means that everyday civic matters – sanitation, zoning and development planning – remain in the hands of bureaucrats rather than accountable public offices.
For now, all eyes are on the Punjab government’s ability to finalize the delimitation rules within the four-week deadline. Whether this latest reform leads to an election or resets the clock will test the province’s long-standing promise to restore local democracy.
Punjab Governor informed about LG Act 2025
Meanwhile, the Punjab Governor was briefed on the new Local Government Act, 2025, a law that requires the ECP to postpone elections in the province.
Punjab Local Government Special Secretary Arshad Baig called on Punjab Governor Sardar Saleem Haider Khan at the Governor House in Lahore to give him full confidence on the five-year Local Government Act, 2025.
During the briefing, the special secretary said the tenure of local bodies would be five years. He said under Act 2025, each union council would have 13 members representing a population of 25,000, including nine directly elected councilors and four reserved seats.
The reserved seats will be for a woman, a young person, a worker and a minority. The names of the president and vice-president will be chosen during internal elections of the union council. He said elected members would be required to join either political party within a month, while the ward system in the union council should be abolished.
Speaking on the occasion, the governor said devolution of powers to the grassroots and provision of basic amenities to the people should be the top priority of the government. He said devolution of power to the people is the aim of the PPP.
The Punjab Governor said that local government system is the foundation of any democratic system. He said local elections are the need of the hour.
The governor said with the implementation of the Local Government Act 2025, the level of union councils will be expanded and funds will be transferred. He added that PPP is a people’s party and it brings its workers and activists to the corridors of power. The governor expressed hope that local elections will be held soon in the province.
Apparently unaware, PPP was taken by surprise by this decision. Some within the PPP saw an alien hand in the postponement of these elections.
A leader felt that delaying the elections at this stage made no sense as the PTI is chained and there is no real challenger.
