ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday said it had “taken a serious view” of the Punjab government’s failure to meet deadlines for tasks that would pave the way for the long-delayed local government (LG) polls in the province and decided to fix the matter for hearing.
Sources told media that according to the promised timelines, the Punjab Local Government (Delimitation of Union Councils) Rules, were to be finalised by October 27 last year. The input for the finalisation of the rules had been provided by the ECP but a notification by the relevant authorities was still awaited, the sources said.
They said November 15, 2025 was the deadline for the provision of the Punjab Local Government (Conduct of Elections) Rules. The draft for the rules had been shared with the ECP by the provincial government and the former had given its input as well, but a notification was yet to be issued, the sources said.
Likewise, the notification of Demarcation and Classification, showing the limits of local areas, was due by December 22, 2025 but was still awaited.
A deadline of December 31, 2025 for the notification of the number of union councils that are to be delimited within local areas has also been missed.
Moreover, authenticated maps showing census charges, census circles and census blocks as per the 2023 census were to be provided by January 10, but are still awaited.
The sources said a letter expressing the ECP’s disappointment had been sent to Punjab’s Local Government and Community Development Department secretary.
The letter, seen by media, says the matter was discussed at the highest level and the ECP took a “serious view” of the Punjab government’s failure to meet the set deadlines and fulfil the assurances given to the ECP.
“Further, the matter has been left open-ended without any timelines being given for completion of all above metioned activities,” the letter read.
The letter said, “Keeping in view the situation and the fact that the conduct of the local government election in the province has already been considerably delayed, the commission has decided to fix the matter for hearing and take appropriate steps with regards to the conduct of the local government election in the province.”
“Due date for the hearing shall be conveyed soon.”
LG elections in Punjab have been delayed for long and the matter goes back to 2019. In April that year, the then PTI-led Punjab government had dissolved the local government institutions, which were later restored by the Supreme Court and subsequently completed their term on December 31, 2021.
Under Article 140-A of the Constitution and Section 219(4) of the Elections Act, the ECP is bound to hold elections within 120 days of the expiry of the term of the local government institutions.
This meant that LG elections in Punjab were supposed to be held by the end of April 2022, but it could not be made possible as the provincial government kept on amending the LG law from time to time.
Last year, on Oct 8, the ECP ordered LG polls in December 2025 and asked Punjab to immediately start the delimitation exercise and complete the same within two months.
This order, however, was reversed in a meeting chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja on Oct 21, 2025 in light of the promulgation of a new LG law, the Punjab Local Government Act 2025 (PLGA), after a request by the Punjab government.
The ECP withdrew its original delimitation schedule for the elections issued under the 2022 local government law, giving the provincial government four weeks to finalise the delimitation and demarcation rules.
On October 31, 2025 the ECP said local government elections in Punjab would not be possible before the second quarter of next year as the commission would not have all the prerequisites to hold the electoral exercise during the current year.
The prerequisites were scheduled to be in place by January 10, following which the ECP was to begin the delimitation process.
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