The Election Commission of Pakistan has postponed local government elections across all districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, suspending every step taken so far to hold the polls until further orders.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the commission in Islamabad on Wednesday, 5 November 2026, chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja. The commission reviewed a federal government order issued a day earlier and concluded that holding the elections in the province was no longer possible.
The postponement means voters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will not be choosing their local councils any time soon, even in districts where preparations for the polls were already under way.
What the Election Commission decided
The commission said preparations for local government elections had already begun in districts outside the areas covered by the emergency measures in the province. But after reviewing the federal government’s Order No. 3, issued on 4 November 2026, it decided the process could not go ahead.
Under Clause 2 of the order, Article 140-A of the Constitution has been suspended. The suspension, which had earlier applied to specific districts, has now been extended to all other districts of the province as well.
The Election Commission said conducting local government elections was its constitutional responsibility under Article 140-A, Subsection 2. But it added that, because of the federal order, holding the elections in the remaining districts had become impossible.
All preparations and steps taken so far for the local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been suspended until further orders, the commission announced.
The federal order behind the postponement
Article 140-A of the Constitution deals with the establishment of local governments in the provinces. Its suspension removes, for now, the constitutional basis on which the local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were being organised.
The federal order follows the emergency and governor’s rule imposed in the province on 11 October 2026, when President Asif Ali Zardari issued proclamations under Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution on the federal cabinet’s recommendation.
Under those measures, the provincial government led by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was suspended, Chief Minister Sohail Afridi was taken into preventative detention, and Governor Faisal Karim Kundi took charge of the province with an 11-member advisory council. The army was also authorised to deploy in aid of civil power under Article 245.
A joint sitting of Parliament approved the emergency and governor’s rule on 15 October. Petitions challenging the measures are before the Peshawar High Court, which has adjourned the proceedings until 10 November.
From 12 districts to the whole province
The postponement announced on Wednesday goes further than the Election Commission’s earlier position. Only last week, the commission had ordered local government elections to be held immediately in districts where delimitation had been completed, excluding 12 districts facing what it called intense security challenges.
Five districts — Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Mohmand, Orakzai and North Waziristan — were excluded from the election programme, while seven more — Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Bajaur, Khyber, Kurram, Lower South Waziristan and Upper South Waziristan — were left out of the delimitation schedules altogether.
The provincial government had asked for the elections to be deferred, citing the law and order situation, the imposition of emergency and the deployment of troops. Some politicians in the province have questioned the timing of the postponement, arguing that there is no legal bar to holding polls during an emergency.
The commission has given no timeframe for when the suspension will be lifted or when a fresh election schedule might be announced.
What happens next — and the Punjab contrast
The same meeting of the Election Commission also fixed a date for local government elections elsewhere. The first phase of the local government elections in Punjab will be held on 7 February, the commission announced, in a sharp contrast with the halted process in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
For now, the local government election process in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa stands fully suspended. Whether the polls return will depend on the federal government’s order, the fate of the emergency measures, and the Peshawar High Court’s decision on the petitions challenging them.
Until then, the province’s districts will continue without elected local councils, and the Election Commission’s preparations will remain on hold.
Capital News Point reported on the federal order halting local elections across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while Islamabad Post reported on the Punjab election date and the halt in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
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