PESHAWAR: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has ordered local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s districts outside the 12 tribal districts, directing authorities to proceed with polls where constituency delimitation has been completed.
The decision was announced by a five-member ECP bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja in a case concerning delays in holding local government elections in the province.
Under the order, elections must be ensured immediately in districts where the delimitation process has been completed. The commission also directed officials to issue a delimitation schedule for districts where the process remains unfinished.
However, delimitation and local government elections will not be conducted in the 12 tribal districts under the decision.
The ECP directed the provincial government and relevant administrative authorities to take all necessary legal and administrative measures to facilitate the elections. It also ordered the relevant wing to submit the required election schedule.
The local government elections have been delayed since the terms of elected local bodies expired earlier this year. The four-year terms of local governments elected in the first phase ended in March 2026, while those elected in the second phase completed their terms in June.
According to the ECP, amendments to local government laws introduced by the provincial government affected the delimitation process. The commission had previously said it was ready to hold elections but faced legal and administrative hurdles.
The issue became more complicated in October when the provincial government sought to postpone elections in 12 districts, citing security concerns, emergency measures and administrative difficulties.
During the hearing preceding the decision, ECP officials told the commission that delimitation had been completed in 23 districts. The chief election commissioner questioned why elections could not proceed in areas where the process had already been completed.
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The commission subsequently reserved its decision before announcing the order.
