PREDICTABLE as it was in the wake of the Punjab government’s passage of a new local government law, the Election Commission’s decision to postpone local polls in the province underscores a troubling pattern of democratic backsliding. The ECP’s move to withdraw its barely three-week-old delimitation schedule — issued to enable elections in December — at the provincial authorities’ ‘request’ is not merely an act of expediency, it is another setback to the devolution process. Punjab has effectively been without local bodies after the then PTI administration dissolved them in 2019. This is so, despite an apex court decision to restore them to complete the remainder of their term. Ever since, successive governments have found one pretext or another to delay polls. Regrettably, the ECP has, willingly or otherwise, been complicit in this persistent denial of local representation to the citizens.

The ECP has justified its decision to delay the local polls on procedural grounds, arguing that the provincial government needs time to frame rules under the new law. However, its failure to announce a firm election date makes it evident that local democracy is no more a priority for the ECP than it is for the ruling PML-N. Little wonder that few believe the ECP’s assurance that no further extension will be granted to the provincial government for organising the local polls. How can a body that failed to assert its authority to hold the general elections within the constitutionally mandated period now be trusted with keeping its promises? Had the ECP stuck with its commitment to organise the polls in December rather than scrapping the delimitation schedule entirely, it could have helped somewhat salvage its reputation. That said, the absence of local democracy in the province has had significant political and socioeconomic implications. It is not as if the local polls held under the new law, which strips local representatives of the few administrative and financial powers they had under the previous one, will change the people’s lives, but it would be a stride towards grassroots participatory democracy in Punjab. Even though the Constitution is largely vague on the question of devolution to local bodies, it clearly gives the ECP the mandate to organise local elections within 120 days of the expiry of their term. In the end, the mandate belongs to those who want to use it.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2025