Islamabad [Pakistan], October 8 : The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has decided to hold the long-delayed local government (LG) elections in Punjab in the last week of December 2025, with the process of delimitation set to begin on Thursday and completed within two months, Dawn reported.
According to the order, a copy of which is available with Dawn, the decision was taken by a four-member ECP bench.
The order stated that the ECP had "decided to hold the local government elections in the province of Punjab on basis of the existing local government law i.e. the Punjab Local Government Act 2022 and Rules framed thereunder. The office (ECP) is directed to initiate the process of delimitation from tomorrow and shall further complete it within two months. Thereafter, the election programme should be announced and the election should be held in the last week of December, 2025."
The order further noted that the "office is expected to follow the timelines strictly."
Referring to an earlier order issued in June, the ECP recalled that the Punjab government had been granted three months to complete various activities related to the election process "in the interest of justice."
"In case of failure, the commission will issue appropriate orders regarding the conduct of local government elections in the province of Punjab," the June order had stated, as reported by Dawn.
The ECP said that since no response was received from the Punjab government within the three-month period, the matter was once again taken up for hearing. A notice was issued to the local government secretary to appear before the bench, Dawn reported.
According to the latest order, the ECP bench comprised Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja and members Nisar Ahmed Durrani, Shah Muhammad Jatoi, and Babar Hassan Bharwana.