PESHAWAR (The Thursday Times) — The Election Commission of Pakistan has ordered local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa districts where constituency delimitation is complete, but excluded the 12 districts placed under a special administrative arrangement after the federal government imposed emergency and governor’s rule.
Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja announced the reserved verdict on Wednesday, directing the commission’s office to submit an election programme for approval in districts where delimitation has been finalised, Geo News reported. ECP Special Secretary Zafar Iqbal had told a five-member bench a day earlier that delimitation was complete in 23 districts.
Twelve districts left out
No polls will be scheduled in Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Mohmand, Orakzai and North Waziristan under the federal government’s October 11 order. The commission also told its office to issue delimitation schedules for districts where the process is incomplete, but not for Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Bajaur, Khyber, Kurram, Upper South Waziristan and Lower South Waziristan.
All 12 fall under the Area Development Secretariat that the Centre set up to oversee administration, development and security in 12 designated districts, with an Area Representative and Development Council (ARDC) providing local representation. The provincial government had asked the commission to defer the polls, citing law and order, the emergency measures and the deployment of troops.
Councils out of term
The terms of local councils elected in the first phase of the last polls expired in March 2026, and those of the second phase in June, leaving much of the province without elected local government.
President Asif Ali Zardari proclaimed emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on October 11 on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, citing worsening security and shortcomings in the provincial government’s counter-terrorism effort. Governor Faisal Karim Kundi now runs the province with an 11-member advisory council, and the government has said governor’s rule will end within six months.
