{"id":2746,"date":"2026-08-20T15:59:05","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T15:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/?p=2746"},"modified":"2026-08-20T15:59:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T15:59:05","slug":"ecp-agrees-to-hold-punjab-local-body-polls-between-dec-15-2026-jan-15-2027","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/2026\/08\/20\/ecp-agrees-to-hold-punjab-local-body-polls-between-dec-15-2026-jan-15-2027\/","title":{"rendered":"ECP agrees to hold Punjab local body polls between Dec 15, 2026-Jan 15, 2027"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>ISLAMABAD<\/strong>: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday agreed to the Punjab government\u2019s proposal to hold local government elections in the province between December 15, 2026, and January 15, 2027.<\/p>\n<p>In a press release, the commission said an important meeting was held at the ECP\u2019s headquarters to discuss fixing a date for the local government elections in Punjab. The meeting was chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja.<\/p>\n<p>A four-member Punjab cabinet committee, headed by Local Government Minister Zeeshan Rafiq and comprising Mines and Minerals Minister Sardar Sher Ali Gorchani, Agriculture Minister Syed Muhammad Ashiq Hussain Shah and Education Minister Rana Sikandar Hayat, also attended the meeting, along with the Punjab chief secretary and local government special secretary.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, ECP members, the ECP secretary, and other senior officials of the Commission also attended the meeting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe chief election commissioner highlighted the importance of establishing local governments and said that holding local government elections is a constitutional requirement under Article 140-A of the Constitution of Pakistan,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnder Section 219(4) of the Elections Act, the Election Commission is bound to hold local government elections within 120 days of the expiry of the term of local governments,\u201d Raja was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n<p>According to the press release, the commission was briefed that the delimitation process in Punjab had been completed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnder Section 219(3) of the Elections Act 2017 and Section 59 of the Punjab Local Government Act, consultation with the provincial government is necessary for announcing the date of local government elections,\u201d it stated.<\/p>\n<p>It added that the Punjab cabinet committee briefed the commission that the chief minister of Punjab was committed to holding local government elections in the province and had given the committee full authority to hold consultations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe provincial government has to initiate the process for local government elections and would also require time for the proper provision of resources. In addition, the services of teaching staff are required extensively during the local government election process,\u201d Rafiq was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, he underscored that it would be more appropriate to hold the local government elections from December 15, 2026, to January 15, 2027, as the children\u2019s examinations would have been completed by then and there would also be no issue of fog in the province.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Punjab\u2019s chief secretary briefed the commission that the provincial government wanted to hold the elections in phases during the aforementioned period so that adequate security and better arrangements could be provided, the release said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe commission, in principle, agreed with the provincial government\u2019s proposal to hold local government elections between December 15, 2026, and January 15, 2027,\u201d it stated.<\/p>\n<p>The commission also demanded a plan from the provincial government \u201cas soon as possible\u201d if it wants to hold the local government elections in phases.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe chief election commissioner appreciated the proposals of the Punjab cabinet committee regarding the holding of local government elections in Punjab and said that this would pave the way for fulfilling a constitutional responsibility,\u201d the release concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday agreed to the Punjab government\u2019s proposal to hold local government elections in the province between December 15, 2026, and January 15, 2027. In a press release, the commission said an important meeting was held at the ECP\u2019s headquarters to discuss fixing a date for the local [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-national"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>ECP agrees to hold Punjab local body polls between Dec 15, 2026-Jan 15, 2027 - Diplomag<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/2026\/08\/20\/ecp-agrees-to-hold-punjab-local-body-polls-between-dec-15-2026-jan-15-2027\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ECP agrees to hold Punjab local body polls between Dec 15, 2026-Jan 15, 2027 - Diplomag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday agreed to the Punjab government\u2019s proposal to hold local government elections in the province between December 15, 2026, and January 15, 2027. 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