The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has ordered local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s settled districts, excluding the province’s 12 tribal districts, while issuing its verdict in a case concerning delays in holding the polls.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has ordered the immediate holding of local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s districts where the delimitation process has been completed, excluding the province’s 12 tribal districts.
The verdict was announced by a five-member ECP bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja in a case concerning delays in local government elections in the province.
The Commission directed the relevant authorities to proceed with elections in districts where delimitation has been completed. During the hearing, ECP officials told the Commission that the delimitation process was complete in 23 districts.
The ECP also directed the relevant wing to issue a delimitation schedule for districts where the process has not yet been completed. A formal announcement regarding the schedule is expected within the next 24 hours.
However, the Commission ruled that delimitation and local government elections would not be conducted in the 12 tribal districts. The ECP further instructed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and relevant administrative authorities to complete all necessary arrangements for holding the elections and directed the concerned wing to present an election schedule.
During the hearing, Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja questioned what obstacles remained to holding elections in districts where delimitation had already been completed. The Commission subsequently reserved its decision, which was announced on Wednesday.
Delays in KP Local Government elections
The local government election process in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been delayed since the elected local governments completed their terms 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 2026.
According to the ECP, amendments to the provincial local government laws affected the delimitation process, preventing the election schedule from being finalised.
In July, the Commission stated that it was ready to conduct local government elections in the province. However, legal and administrative hurdles prevented the process from moving forward.
The matter became more complicated in October after the federal government imposed a state of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under Article 232 of the Constitution and Governor’s Rule under Article 234.
Citing the law-and-order situation, the deployment of military personnel in certain areas and administrative challenges, the provincial government sought the postponement of local government elections in 12 districts.
Previous Local Government elections in KP
The previous local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were held in two phases. The first phase took place on December 19, 2021, in 17 districts, while polling for the second phase was held on March 31, 2022.
The elections were delayed by approximately two years due to amendments to provincial local government laws and related legal proceedings.
Under Article 140-A of the Constitution, provinces are required to establish local governments and devolve political, administrative and financial powers to elected representatives. Similarly, Section 219(4) of the Elections Act, 2017, requires the ECP to hold local government elections within 120 days of the expiry of a local government’s term.
