LG polls in cantonments: Defence ministry says ready to support ECP

ISLAMABAD: The Defence Ministry has denied any delay on its part regarding the preparations for holding local government elections in the 42 cantonments across the country, following which the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has directed its secretariat to approach the office of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on this matter. During the hearing of a related case, a counsel for the Defence Ministry appeared before an ECP bench on Tuesday. The counsel said that there was no delay on part of the Defence Ministry regarding preparations of LG polls in the cantonments. The defence lawyer further said that an official summary regarding LG polls in the cantonments was pending with the federal government since 31 May. Once the summary is approved, the Defence Ministry would be ready to extend the required support to the ECP for holding the LG elections in the cantonments, the counsel stated. Heading the ECP bench, Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja directed the electoral body’s secretariat to approach the PM’s office on the matter. Last week, the ECP summoned Secretary Defence former Lieutenant General Muhammad Ali and Director General Military Lands and Cantonments (ML&C) Major General Jawwad Ahmed Qazi for Tuesday’s hearing over non-compliance of its directions regarding the conduct of LG elections in the cantonments across Pakistan. On 16 January this year, the ECP issued the schedule for the delimitation of wards for the 42 cantonments. Under this schedule, the delimitation exercise was to be completed on 20 April with the issuance of the final list of the delimited cantonment wards. Of the 42 cantonments, 20 are located in Punjab — Rawalpindi, Chaklala, Taxila, Wah, Attock, Kamra, Sanjwal, Jhelum, Mangla, Kharian, Murree Hills, Sargodha, Shorkot, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Lahore, Walton, Okara, Multan and Bahawalpur. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has 11 cantonments — Peshawar, Nowshera, Cherat, Risalpur, Mardan, Kohat, Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Abbottabad, Havelian and Murree Gallies. Sindh has eight cantonments — Pano Aqil, Hyderabad, Karachi, Clifton, Manora, Malir, Faisal and Korangi Creek. And, in Balochistan, there are three cantonments — Quetta, Loralai and Zhob. The LG elections in the 42 cantonments were held on 12 December 2021. Legally, the four-year term of the elected representatives of any cantonment begins with their oath-taking. Keeping in view that Kamra was the last cantonment to have completed its four-year LG term on 11 April this year, the LG elections in the cantonments are required to be held latest by 8 August this year, in accordance with Section 219(4) of the Elections Act, 2017. This section provides that the ECP shall hold LG elections within 120 days of the expiry of the LGs’ term in a province, cantonment, or the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT). Copyright Business Recorder, 2026

Read full story on Business Recorder