ECP sets Feb 7 as polling date for first phase of Punjab LG polls

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has ordered holding the first phase of local government elections in Punjab on 7th February 2027, a day before the Islamic month of Ramazan, expected to begin on 8th February, accepting the provincial government’s amended request to hold these elections on any date on or after 20th January (instead of April.)

In this context, a written order issued by a four-member ECP bench, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja on Thursday cited Chief Secretary Punjab (Zahid Akhtar Zaman) as having informed the Commission (during the proceedings of the Punjab LG polls’ delay case) that the provincial government would be required to “arrange transportation facilities and had also made arrangements for the availability of school buildings to be used as polling stations.”

According to the written order, the chief secretary requested that the “elections may preferably be scheduled on or after 20th January 2027, in phased manner keeping in view the weather conditions and administrative convenience, to ensure the smooth, transparent and orderly conduct of the electoral process.”

The ECP bench, in the order, accepted the chief secretary’s request “in the interest of justice,” and ordered the first phase of LG polls on 7th February.

Conspicuously, the ECP ordered to hold the LG elections in Punjab on the same day it paused the LG polls arrangements for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa citing the suspension of Article 140-A by the federal government. Earlier on Wednesday, this Article was suspended by the federal government to the extent of KP where emergency and governor’s rule were imposed on 11th October.

The Article 140A(2) reads that the LG elections shall be held by the ECP.

In a meeting between the ECP and the Punjab government officials held on 20th August this year, the provincial government had conveyed to the electoral body that it was ready to hold phase-wise LG elections in the province on the dates between the coming 15 December and 15 January due to the availability of government teachers to be assigned election duties, following annual winter vacations in the government schools in the province during that period.

Last month, however, the Punjab government conveyed to the ECP that it was unwilling to hold the LG elections on the dates falling between 15 December to 15 January due to “heavy fog” and “extremely cold weather conditions” that prevail during these days.

Keeping in view that the Islamic month of Ramazan would begin in February next year and end in the following month of March, the Punjab government wanted the LG polls to be held phase-wise starting from April next year, an ECP meeting was informed on 15th October. The ECP had rejected this stance as “unsatisfactory.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026