The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced a revised timeline for the delimitation of union councils in Punjab.

As per the timetable, the complaints on delimitation can be submitted till July 4 while the results on the objections on limits of union councils would be announced by July 29.

The last deadline for notifying the Punjab union council delimitation committees about the decisions has been fixed for August 7.

The timetable further mentioned that the final list of Punjab union council delimitations will be released on August 17.

The definitive timetable of elections for local government in Punjab will be announced after the completion of the process of delimitation.

BACKGROUND

Local government polls in Punjab have been deferred several times since 2019. The erstwhile Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) provincial government disbanded the local government entities in April that year. The Supreme Court later reversed the order and restored the elected bodies. They then served out their constitutional term on 31 December 2021.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is obligated by Article 140-A of the Constitution and Section 219(4) of the Elections Act to hold local government elections within 120 days of the expiry of the term of local councils. Therefore, the polls should have been held by the end of April 2022.

However, the Punjab administration delayed the polls by making a number of revisions to the province’s local government statute and the voting process was delayed repeatedly.

ECP announces local government elections in December 2025 on October 8, 2025 The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has asked the Punjab administration to immediately start the process of delimitation of constituencies with orders to complete the procedure within two months.

The revision was made within less than two weeks of the Punjab government’s passing of the Punjab Local Government Act, 2025. Following the passage of the new law, the ECP withdrew the delimitation schedule prepared under the 2022 law and directed the province administration to prepare fresh delimitation and demarcation guidelines within four weeks.

Later, on October 31, 2025, the ECP said local government elections in Punjab could not be held before the second quarter of 2026, as there were no legal and administrative prerequisites to conduct the polls.

The Karachi Port Trust (KPT) carried the biggest volume of cargo in its 138-year-old history this fiscal year, official media said Sunday, as the US-Iran war in the Middle East rerouted many ships towards Pakistan.

Pakistan’s port activity saw a boost after the US-Iran war started in February this year as several vessels changed their course from Gulf transshipment hubs towards KPT, Port Qasim and Gwadar ports in Pakistan.

The KPT handled more than 54.685 million metric tonnes of cargo during the current fiscal year, exceeding its previous best performance set in 2017-18, PID added.

“KPT had broken the all-time cargo handling record of 54.685 million tonnes in the current financial year,” the PID cited Maritime Affairs Minister Junaid Anwar Chaudhry as saying.

The PID said the minister attributed the success to improved operational efficiencies, effective management and enhanced port capacity.

The government continued to modernise the ports, increase their capacity, develop logistical infrastructure and provide amenities in accordance with international standards, the PID said, quoting Chaudhry.

Karachi Port, the main seaport of Pakistan, accounts for a considerable share of the country’s sea traffic. Container volumes are a key measure of commercial activity and port performance and the government has been investing in infrastructure enhancements to put Pakistan on the map as a regional logistics and transshipment hub.

This latest milestone comes a week after the KPT reported it set a new record for container throughput by handling more than 2.651 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the current fiscal year.

The Punjab government has prolonged the execution of Section 144 across the state while a blanket ban on flying outdoor drones remained in place due to security concerns.

The Punjab Home Department said that the limitation on outdoor drone activities under Section 144 has been extended for another 30 days. The decision was decided in view of prevailing security threats and public safety concerns.”

The province administration said drones will still be banned in open spaces, but tiny drones will be allowed in a restricted manner during indoor events in halls and marquees. The organisers of such indoor events would be responsible for the safe usage of drones.

The prohibition has been exempted by the intelligence agencies and law enforcement institutions.

The prohibition was enforced by the Punjab Home Secretary under Section 144(6) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898.

A representative of the Home Department said that ensuring public safety, maintaining law and order and protecting property continue to be the primary priorities of the administration. All authorities and police in Punjab have been asked to strictly enforce the orders.

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