The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has given the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) a two-week deadline to submit a formal written request for local government elections across 42 cantonment boards, warning that further delays will prompt the electoral body to issue appropriate orders.
During a hearing in Islamabad, a five-member ECP bench led by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja addressed the prolonged delay in holding the local polls. According to the commission, local government terms in the cantonments expired on April 11, creating a legal obligation under the Elections Act, 2017, to hold elections within 120 days—a deadline that fell on August 8.
Representatives for the Ministry of Defence and the Military Lands and Cantonments Department informed the bench that the ministry is prepared to conduct the vote and has already forwarded the necessary paperwork, but the matter remains pending at the PMO. Although the ECP has completed ward delimitations for all 42 cantonment boards—spanning Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Balochistan—it cannot proceed without the federal government's formal request mandated by the Cantonments Act, 1924.
The ECP has instructed its office to write to the PMO once more and relist the case for a follow-up hearing after three weeks if no response is received.
