The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has given the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) 15 days to submit the federal government’s formal written request for local government elections in 42 cantonment boards across the country, warning that it may issue appropriate orders if the deadline is not met.
The directive was issued in an order dated November 10 by a five-member ECP bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja. The order, available on the commission’s official website, emerged on Friday during proceedings concerning the delay in holding cantonment board elections.
The commission observed that the terms of the local governments in the cantonment boards had expired on April 11, making fresh elections necessary under the applicable electoral laws.
Under Section 219(4) of the Elections Act, 2017, the ECP is required to conduct local government elections within 120 days of the expiry of the previous bodies’ terms.
Accordingly, elections in the 42 cantonment boards were required to be held by August 8. However, the electoral process has remained delayed pending the federal government’s formal request.
The commission noted that it had already completed the delimitation process for wards in all 42 cantonment boards.
According to the order, the ECP issued the delimitation schedule on January 11 and published the final list of ward boundaries on April 20.
The commission also held a consultative meeting 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).
The meeting was convened 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 ECP directed the Ministry of Defence to initiate a summary seeking the federal government’s approval and forward the required request to the commission.
Despite these directions, the commission said it had yet to receive the necessary formal communication.
The ECP had previously written several letters to the Ministry of Defence seeking a response regarding the elections. It had also approached the prime minister directly but received no reply.
The commission has now given the Prime Minister’s Office a further fortnight to provide the federal government’s written request, warning that it would be constrained to pass appropriate orders if no response was received within the stipulated period.
Cantonment boards previously held local government elections in 2015 and 2021.
The latest order reflects the commission’s continuing efforts to address the delay in conducting fresh elections and fulfil its statutory responsibility to ensure the timely establishment of elected local governments in cantonment areas.