Gilgit-Baltistan’s Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Raja Shahbaz Khan announced on Wednesday that the region’s long-delayed local government (LG) elections have been scheduled to be held on August 2.
General elections for the region’s legislative assembly were scheduled for Jan 24, 2026, while LG polls — announced after a gap of more than 20 years — were set for Feb 14, 2026. However, days after the announcements, both were postponed indefinitely due to harsh weather conditions in the region.
Earlier this month, Khan said the GB Election Commission was preparing to hold the elections but had not yet set a date.
In a press conference today, the CEC said that the schedule for GB’s local body polls had been issued, and returning officers (ROs), district returning officers (DROs) and assistant returning officers (AROs) had been appointed.
He said a public notice would be issued by the returning officers (ROs) on June 6, while nomination papers would be accepted from June 9 to 15. The elections would be held for union councils, district councils, town committees, municipal committees and municipal corporations.
The remaining process was listed in the full schedule, Khan said, adding that the last local body election had taken place in 2004, 22 years ago.
“Delimitation and demarcation have been completed under the Local Government Act of 2014,” he said further.
Khan further stated that there had previously been two systems in GB: a local district council and a union council, with municipal committees in urban areas.
In place of this, he said, now there would be town committees, municipal committees and municipal corporations in urban areas.
Earlier, political parties in the region were uncertain about holding elections before June but feared that they could be delayed until October. They agreed that holding elections during Muharram, which begins on June 15 or 16 this year, or on other religious occasions such as Chehlum, was not possible.
Political leaders, therefore, feared that postponing elections beyond June could effectively delay them until September or October.
