Punjab proposes local elections in three phases next April

The Punjab government appears set to delay the province’s long-awaited local government elections once again. The provincial cabinet has proposed holding the polls in three phases, on April 4, 11 and 18, 2027, instead of the date suggested by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Dawn reported.

Earlier this month, the ECP proposed holding the elections on December 14 and sent a draft schedule to the Punjab chief secretary for consultation. The Punjab Local Government and Community Development Department wrote to the commission on Wednesday to convey the cabinet’s different plan.

The government’s reasons

The letter cited smog, dense fog and adverse winter weather expected in December and January, followed by the start of Ramazan in February, as reasons for not holding the polls as scheduled. It said a ministerial committee had held its second meeting on October 5 and looked at what tough weather and Ramazan would mean for the elections.

A phased approach, the committee said, would help with the deployment of election staff and security personnel, the transport of polling material, administrative oversight and access for voters. It would also avoid the worst of the winter weather and the period immediately after Ramazan.

The cabinet considered the committee’s recommendations early on Wednesday and approved the three-phase proposal. All three dates fall on Sundays. The letter said the allocation of districts among the phases could be discussed and then agreed with the ECP at a dedicated meeting, taking into account administrative, logistical, security and geographical factors as well as the weather.

The ECP’s position

On October 5, the same day the ministerial committee met, the ECP said it was prepared to hold local government polls across the province. Its letter noted that the commission had held a consultative meeting with the provincial cabinet committee on August 20, at which it agreed to the Punjab government’s proposal to hold the elections between December 15 and January 15, 2027.

On August 6, the Punjab cabinet had approved Rs12.5 billion for holding the elections.

A long history of delay

The last local government elections in Punjab were held in 2015 under the Punjab Local Government Act, 2013, with polling in phases between October and December that year. Elected councils took office in 2017 after indirect elections for mayors and chairpersons. Dawn’s account of what followed:

• The PTI government dissolved the elected local bodies in April 2019, before their term ended. The Supreme Court later struck down that move and restored them.
• The councils eventually completed their term on December 31, 2021.
• Successive provincial governments amended or replaced the Local Government Act. Each change forced the ECP to restart preparations, including delimitation and election planning.

Under Article 140A of the Constitution and the Elections Act, local government elections should be held within 120 days of the end of a body’s term. Since the councils’ term ended in December 2021, elections were due by April 2022. They have been postponed repeatedly since.

Why it matters

Punjab is Pakistan’s most populous province, and without elected councils the daily business of waste collection, street repairs and local services has been run by appointed administrators for almost five years. If the cabinet’s proposal is accepted, voters would wait until April 2027, five years after the constitutional deadline. The next step is the meeting between the provincial government and the ECP, where the dates and the allocation of districts have to be agreed. Read our report on Gilgit-Baltistan’s revised local election schedule.

This article draws on reporting by Dawn.