ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday halted, until further orders, local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa following the federal government\u2019s suspension of the constitutional provision \u2014 Article 140-A of the Constitution \u2014 governing local governments in the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On October 28, the ECP had ordered local government elections<\/a> in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa districts where the delimitation of constituencies had been completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Citing the federal government\u2019s order issued on November 4, the ECP said the suspension of Article 140-A also applied to districts beyond those specifically designated under the order, making it impossible to hold local government polls in the remaining districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The electoral body said its meeting, chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, carried out a detailed review of the federal government\u2019s Order No-3 issued on November 4 and its implications for the local government election process in the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUnder Clause 2 of the federal order, Article 140-A of the Constitution has been suspended,\u201d the ECP said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It said the suspension would apply not only to districts already specified under the federal order but also to all other districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Article 140-A relates to the establishment of local governments in the provinces. Under its sub-clause 2, the holding of local government elections is a constitutional responsibility of the ECP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ECP said that with Article 140-A suspended, the constitutional basis for holding local government elections in the remaining districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was no longer in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe ECP decided to halt, until further orders, all steps taken so far for the holding of local government elections across the province,\u201d the poll body said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The decision reverses the momentum created by an ECP order last week to proceed with local government elections in districts where constituency delimitation had been completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On October 28, the ECP ordered that the process for local government elections should move forward in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa districts where delimitation had been completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The decision was announced by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja while pronouncing a reserved verdict in a case concerning prolonged delays in holding local government elections in the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ECP had maintained that elections could proceed in districts where delimitations had been completed, despite concerns raised by the provincial authorities over law and order and the situation following the imposition of governor\u2019s rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The commission had also pressed the provincial authorities to remove legal and administrative hurdles that had delayed the polls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the federal government\u2019s November 4 order and the subsequent suspension of Article 140-A have now brought the entire process to a halt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest decision comes against the backdrop of a broader constitutional and political crisis in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the federal government has imposed an emergency and governor\u2019s rule<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With all election-related measures now suspended until further orders, the timetable for local government polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remains uncertain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The last local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were held in two phases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first phase took place on December 19, 2021, in 17 districts, while the second phase was held on March 31, 2022. The elections were delayed by nearly two years following changes to provincial local government laws and related legal proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The terms of the elected local governments expired in March and June 2026, respectively, leaving the province without elected local bodies after their terms ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under Article 140-A of the Constitution, provinces are required to establish local governments and devolve political, administrative and financial responsibility to elected representatives. 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\u2019s term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In July 2026, the ECP began consultations with the provincial government to determine election dates in 23 districts where delimitation had been completed. The provincial administration had assured the commission of its cooperation in arranging the polls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, subsequent amendments to the provincial local government law increased the population threshold for village and neighbourhood councils, complicating the delimitation process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ECP said the revised thresholds conflicted with the number of councils specified in the relevant legal schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The provincial government later sought to defer elections in 12 districts, citing security concerns, the emergency imposed on October 11 and the deployment of troops in certain areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ECP questioned why elections could not be held in districts where delimitation had already been completed, arguing that the emergency did not automatically prevent the electoral process from proceeding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The dispute has prolonged uncertainty over the restoration of elected local governments in the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier, the ECP empowered the district returning officer (DRO)<\/a> and returning officers (ROs) appointed for Islamabad\u2019s local government elections with the powers of first-class magistrates, enabling them to take legal action against election-related offences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PAK SOUCH MEDIA GROUP<\/p>\n\n\n\n Daily Pak Souch Newspaper Sukkur \u2013 Daily Pak Special Newspaper Karachi \u2013 Daily Pak Today Newspaper Karachi – Daily Pak Jazbo Newspaper Sukkur<\/p>\n\n\n\n Head Office : Ayub Gate Shaikh Muhalla Near Rabbania Masjid Sukkur<\/p>\n\n\n\n Karachi Office : Office No. 1901-B, 19th Floor Saima Trade Tower (B) Block I.I Chandigarh Road Near Jung Press, Shaheen Complex & National Museum of Pakistan Karachi Sindh Pakistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contact : 03009319022<\/p>\n\n\n\n Website 1 : https:\/\/paksouch.com\/<\/a> ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday halted, until further orders, local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa following the federal government\u2019s suspension of..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Pak-Souch-Social-Media-Poster-24.png",800,947,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Pak-Souch-Social-Media-Poster-24-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Pak-Souch-Social-Media-Poster-24-253x300.png",253,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Pak-Souch-Social-Media-Poster-24-768x909.png",768,909,true],"large":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Pak-Souch-Social-Media-Poster-24.png",800,947,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Pak-Souch-Social-Media-Poster-24.png",800,947,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Pak-Souch-Social-Media-Poster-24.png",800,947,false]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Pakistan<\/a>","tag_info":"Pakistan","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19018"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19020,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19018\/revisions\/19020"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Background<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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