Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz chaired the 36th meeting of the Punjab provincial cabinet, which approved the budget required for holding local government elections in the province.
The allocation signals that the Punjab government is preparing to conduct local government polls nearly 11 years after the last elections were held in 2015 during Shehbaz Sharif’s tenure as chief minister.
The previous local government elections in Punjab were conducted under the Punjab Local Government Act, 2013, with polling held in phases between October and December 2015. The elected councils assumed office in 2017 following indirect elections for mayors and chairpersons. Since then, however, local government elections in the province have faced repeated delays.
The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government dissolved the elected local bodies in April 2019 before the completion of their tenure. The Supreme Court subsequently declared the move unlawful and ordered the restoration of the councils, which eventually completed their term on December 31, 2021.
The polls have remained pending amid repeated amendments and changes to the Punjab Local Government Act by successive provincial governments. Each legislative change required the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to undertake fresh preparations, including delimitation and election planning, contributing to further delays.
Under Article 140A of the Constitution and the Elections Act, local government elections are required to be held within 120 days of the expiry of local councils’ terms. With Punjab’s local bodies completing their tenure in December 2021, elections were due by April 2022 but have yet to take place.
Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) President Ahmad Bilal Mehboob welcomed the provincial cabinet’s decision to allocate funds for the elections.
Mr Mehboob said the ECP had completed the demarcation and delimitation process and addressed related objections, making it likely that the commission would announce the schedule after August 17, 2026.
He added that, barring any “unseen factor”, local government elections in Punjab could be held by November.
Asked whether the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government’s move was intended to ease pressure over demands for the creation of a new province, Mr Mehboob said the issue was complex. However, he noted that holding local government elections could, to some extent, help reduce the pressure surrounding the debate.
