ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced that long-delayed local government elections in Punjab will be held in the last week of December 2025.
The five-member commission, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, issued the reserved verdict after completing the hearing. According to the decision, the elections will be conducted under the 2002 Local Government Act, and the Punjab government has been directed to complete delimitations within two months.
The ECP stated that work on the delimitation process has already begun to ensure elections are held on schedule.During the hearing, the Chief Election Commissioner remarked that the delay in holding local body elections in Islamabad and Punjab was “a matter of embarrassment” for the Commission, emphasizing that further postponement would not be tolerated.
Punjab’s Special Secretary for Local Government appeared before the Commission and explained the reasons behind the delay in legislation; however, the ECP expressed dissatisfaction with the response.The Commission noted that the term of Punjab’s local bodies expired in 2021, and since then, elections have been repeatedly delayed.The ECP Secretary informed that local government laws had been amended five times, while the Commission had completed delimitations thrice.
The ECP said it had sent multiple reminders and held several meetings with the provincial government, but due to the absence of finalized legislation, polls could not be conducted.The Commission’s ruling made it clear that Punjab’s local body elections will now be held without further delay in the last week of December 2025 to restore the local governance system in the province.
