ECP again warns KP and Centre over delays in local body polls

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday again cautioned the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and federal authorities over delays in local government elections, and directed them to submit all outstanding delimitation notifications before the next hearing on July 28.

The commission took up separate matters related to local government polls in KP and the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT). In the KP case, the chief secretary and local government secretary appeared before a four-member bench headed by Member Sindh Nisar Ahmed Durrani. In the Islamabad case, the Islamabad chief commissioner and deputy commissioner appeared before the commission.

The ECP had already rebuked both governments on July 1 for, in its words, unnecessarily delaying the elections, and warned that creating obstacles in the way of local government polls could lead to serious consequences.

KP delimitation documents still pending

The tenure of local governments in KP ended on March 15 this year. Under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act, 2013, local representatives are elected for a four-year term.

In a five-page order, the bench said the KP government was not providing meaningful assistance to the commission as required under Article 220 of the Constitution, which deals with executive authorities assisting the ECP. Referring to Supreme Court judgments reported as 2014 SCMR 1 and 2021 SCMR 714, the commission said failure to assist would amount to a constitutional violation.

The ECP recalled that on April 22 it had sought three sets of documents for delimitation in 15 districts: tehsil-wise notifications of Neighbourhood Councils and Village Councils, category-wise details of reserved seats, and authenticated maps. A reminder issued on May 15, it said, drew an unsatisfactory response.

As of July 1, the commission had received NC/VC figures and reserved seat details for only seven districts — Khyber, Bajaur, Mansehra, Upper Chitral, Shangla, Malakand and Kurram. Notifications for the remaining eight districts — Karak, Hangu, D.I. Khan, Paharpur, Upper South Waziristan, Lower South Waziristan, Swat and Buner — were still pending provincial assembly legislation. Four newly created districts also still need to be incorporated into the Ninth Schedule of the KP Local Government Act, 2013.

During Tuesday’s proceedings, the KP chief secretary told the commission that maps for 23 districts had already been submitted and delimitation there had been completed. He said that, in line with the July 1 order, maps for the remaining 15 districts had now also been provided. He further stated that notifications for seven districts had been submitted, while those for the remaining eight would be sent after provincial approval.

The ECP directed the KP authorities to submit notifications for the eight remaining districts before July 28 so that delimitation could begin across all districts and elections could be held in time.

Islamabad documents and legislation awaited

For Islamabad, the chief commissioner informed the commission that a summary seeking notification of the limits of the town corporations, along with the number of union councils in each, had been sent to the Prime Minister’s Office. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, he said, allowed the summary on Monday to be circulated for cabinet approval.

The commission noted, however, that three important requirements for ICT were still pending: notification of the town corporation limits together with maps, notification of the union councils in each town corporation, and legislation under the ICT Local Government (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026.

The tenure of the last local government in Islamabad ended in February 2021, and elections have since been delayed for various reasons. Around 2.5 million residents of the capital continue to face civic issues including water shortages and unpaved streets.

The ECP had earlier directed the chief statistician of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics to provide maps and data to KP and to appear on July 7. It had also ordered deputy commissioners of all 15 KP districts to submit maps and data by that date under Article 220 read with the Elections Act, 2017.

Observing that delimitation in 23 KP districts had been completed, the commission ordered a consultative meeting on July 14 under Section 219(3) of the Elections Act for announcement of the poll date. It then adjourned hearings in both the KP and Islamabad cases until July 28.