Defence ministry seeks another extension: ECP reserves verdict on LG polls in Cantonment areas
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday questioned the federal government’s continued failure to facilitate long-overdue local government elections in cantonment areas, as the Defence Ministry sought yet another extension, until January 2027, to complete the delimitation of constituencies.
A five-member ECP bench, headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja, reserved its verdict on the ministry’s request but took exception to the prolonged delay, questioning why the entire electoral exercise was being held up over incomplete delimitation in certain areas.
The commission observed that elections could be held in cantonment areas where the delimitation process had already been completed, casting doubt on the justification for keeping the entire process suspended.
“There is no logical reason to postpone the local government elections,” Raja observed, questioning the government’s failure to move the process forward.
The Defence Ministry’s legal adviser told the bench that he had been instructed to seek an extension until January 2027, while the Additional Director General of Military Lands assured the commission that the delimitation exercise would be completed by then.
The ministry’s representatives also informed the bench that a request had been sent to the federal government for the announcement of an election date, but no response had been received.
Expressing concern over the lack of progress, the CEC questioned why the federal government was not responding even to the Defence Ministry, nor approaching the ECP to finalise an election date.
The latest request comes despite the expiry of the cantonment boards’ tenure on April 11, 2026, leaving residents of these areas without elected local government representation.
The repeated delays have also raised questions over the government’s failure to fulfil its legal obligation to hold local government elections within the prescribed timeframe following the expiry of elected bodies’ terms.
The ECP’s frustration over the delay is not new. In July, CEC Raja wrote to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, urging him to personally intervene to ensure that cantonment board elections were held without further delay.
In his letter, the CEC pointed out that the commission had repeatedly reminded the Defence Ministry of the need to facilitate the electoral exercise.
He also noted that the ministry had forwarded a summary to the Prime Minister’s Office, but the matter had failed to move forward.
Raja had made it clear that the ECP would announce the election schedule once it received a written request from the federal government.
However, despite the CEC’s intervention and repeated assurances from the Defence Ministry, local government elections in cantonment areas remain stalled, with the latest extension request threatening to push the polls into 2027.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026