ECP halts KP local government election preparations after governor's order
The commission says Article 140-A stands suspended in all districts except a few named in the notification, leaving it unable to hold the polls.
The Election Commission of Pakistan has halted all preparations for local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after a governor's order suspended Article 140-A of the Constitution across the province's districts.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the commission chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, according to a press release issued on Thursday. The commission reviewed Clause 2 of Governor's Order No. 3, issued on November 4, 2026, which suspends Article 140-A in every district of the province except those specifically designated in the notification.
At the meeting, the commission noted that Article 140-A concerns the establishment of local governments in the provinces. Article 140-A(2), it noted, places the responsibility for conducting local government elections on the Election Commission.
With the article suspended in the remaining districts, the commission said it would not be able to hold local government elections there. After reviewing what the governor's order meant in practice, it decided that the polls could not be conducted in those districts.
All measures taken so far for holding the local government elections in those districts have been stopped, the press release said.
The commission's statement did not identify which districts fall outside the governor's order, or which district was named in the notification as exempt.
Business Recorder reported the meeting and quoted the commission's press release, naming Governor's Order No. 3, Clause 2 and the two parts of Article 140-A. Samaa, Dunya News and The Nation reported the outcome as a postponement or suspension of local government elections across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Local government elections in the province had been due under the constitutional framework that the governor's order has now set aside in most districts. The commission's role in conducting those polls is set out in the same article that the order suspends.
No date has been announced for local government elections in the districts covered by the suspension.
How the reports differ
Business Recorder, working from the commission's press release, reported that the decision came at a meeting chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja and named Governor's Order No. 3, its Clause 2 and the two parts of Article 140-A. Samaa, Dunya News and The Nation reported the same outcome as a postponement or suspension of local government elections across the province, without the constitutional detail. UrduPoint's feed carried a differently headed item, on the notification of the Sindh Local Government Amendment Act 2026, not the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa decision.
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