The Punjab government on Monday informed the Lahore High Court (LHC) that upcoming local government elections in the province will be held on a party basis, with political parties issuing tickets to their candidates.
The statement was made during proceedings on several petitions challenging the Punjab Local Government Act, 2025. Punjab Assistant Advocate General appeared before Justice Sultan Tanveer Ahmed and said the local government department has already filed its report with the court.
The matter follows the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) October decision to hold local government polls in Punjab under the framework of the Punjab Local Government Act, 2025. During the hearing, counsel for petitioner Sheikh Imtiaz asked the court to formally record the assistant advocate general’s assurance that the elections will be party-based.
On behalf of the ECP, Director General Law Khurram Shahzad told the court the commission had sent nearly 80 reminders to the Punjab government over the past four years about holding local government elections. He added that the ECP is legally required to organize elections in accordance with the law enacted by the provincial government and noted that Punjab authorities had set January 10 as the deadline for completing election-related arrangements.
After the submissions, the court adjourned the case until Tuesday. The petitioner has argued that amendments made to the Punjab Local Government Act, 2017 resulted in non-party-based local government elections, a change he says is contrary to democratic principles.