ISLAMABAD — The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has given the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) a fortnight to submit the federal government’s formal written request for local government elections in cantonment boards, warning that it would be constrained to pass appropriate orders in case of no response. The commission issued the direction in an order passed on November 10 by a five-member bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, while hearing a case regarding the delay in holding local government elections in 42 cantonment boards across the country.
It is noteworthy to mention that the terms of the local governments in the cantonment boards expired on April 11, 2026. Under Section 219(4) of the Elections Act, 2017, the ECP is required to hold local government elections within 120 days of the expiry of their terms. Accordingly, the polls were due by August 8.
Unnatural' cantt delimitation challenged The ECP had issued a schedule for delimitation of wards in all 42 cantonment boards on January 11, with the final delimitation list published on April 20, according to the order. It said that a consultative meeting was held on April 15 with the additional secretary of the Ministry of Defence and the director general of the Military Lands and Cantonments Department (ML&CD) to discuss the election schedule and obtain the federal government’s formal request under Section 19-D(2) of the Cantonments Act, 1924. During the meeting, the commission directed the defence ministry to initiate the requisite summary for obtaining the federal government’s written request and forward it to the ECP.