Who runs local government in Pakistan?
In Pakistan, local government belongs to the four provinces, not the federal government. Article 140A of the Constitution requires each province to set up elected local governments, but each writes its own law, so the tiers, names and election timing differ, and councils have often been dissolved or left unelected for years. Outside the formal system, the *jirga* (in Pashtun and Baloch areas) and the *panchayat* (in Punjab and Sindh), councils of elders, still settle many disputes, though they have no power to act as courts.
Islamic Republic of Pakistan · Federal parliamentary republic · Southern Asia
The levels of government below the nation
| Level | How it is chosen | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Provinces (4: Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan) plus Islamabad Capital Territory; Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir have separate arrangements | Elected provincial assembly and chief minister; governor appointed by the President on the Prime Minister's advice | Write and amend local government laws, control most local funds, and can dissolve councils. |
| Divisions and districts | Divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners are civil servants appointed by the provincial government | Run provincial administration, revenue and law and order. |
| Municipal level: metropolitan/municipal corporations, district councils, municipal and town committees, tehsil (sub-district) governments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | Elected councils; heads (mayors, chairs) elected directly or indirectly depending on the province's law | Urban services, water and sanitation, local roads, markets. |
| Union councils, village councils and neighbourhood councils (about 11,700 in total) | Directly elected members, with reserved seats for women, workers/peasants, youth and religious minorities | Lowest elected level: local development works, registration of births and deaths, local mediation in some provinces. |
Three questions about local power in Pakistan
Are local leaders elected?
Provincial assemblies and local councillors are elected, but provinces have often run councils through appointed administrators between elections. Commissioners and deputy commissioners are appointed civil servants. Jirga members are not elected: they are chosen by standing, age and lineage.
Which laws set up local government?
Article 140A and provincial local government Acts are formal law; jirgas and panchayats are informal, apart from state-sponsored mediation schemes.
Who are local leaders accountable to?
Voters, provincial governments (which can suspend or dissolve councils), the Election Commission of Pakistan (which runs local elections), and the courts, which have repeatedly ordered provinces to hold overdue local elections.
Traditional and customary authority
The *jirga*, a council of male elders that decides by consensus, is central to life in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (including the former tribal areas) and Balochistan; in Punjab and Sindh similar councils are called *panchayats*. They settle land, water, debt and family disputes and sometimes serious crimes. Until 2018 the Frontier Crimes Regulation gave jirgas a formal role in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas; the 25th Amendment (2018) merged those areas into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and extended the ordinary courts there. Today jirgas have no legal power to punish; Pakistan's superior courts have ruled that jirgas and panchayats cannot act as courts, especially in cases involving women such as giving girls in settlement of disputes, which is a crime. Some provinces channel mediation into legal forms, such as dispute resolution councils linked to the police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Religious scholars (ulema) and shrine custodians (pirs) have strong social influence but no local governing office.
Community and neighbourhood power
Below the councils, communities organise through mosque committees, biradari (extended kin or caste) networks, and community organisations created by rural support programmes. Neighbourhood and village councils in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab are the smallest elected bodies. Cantonments (military towns) have their own cantonment boards.
Points to know
- The federal government has no direct say over local councils in the provinces: since the 18th Amendment (2010) it is purely a provincial matter.
- Elected councils in Punjab were dissolved in 2019 and the province has since passed several new local government laws; at the time of the latest sources, elections under them had not yet been held.
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa uses village and neighbourhood councils and directly elected tehsil (sub-district) mayors.
- Local councils have reserved seats for women, peasants/workers, youth and non-Muslims, though the details differ by province.
Local terms
- Jirga
- A council of elders, mainly in Pashtun and Baloch areas, that settles disputes by consensus.
- Panchayat
- In Pakistan, an informal village or caste council of elders, mostly in Punjab and Sindh.
- Tehsil
- A sub-district; in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa it has its own elected local government.
- Union council
- The lowest elected council in Sindh and Balochistan.
Sources
- Pakistan's Constitution of 1973, reinstated 2002, rev. 2018 (Art. 140A), Constitute Project, checked 14 October 2026
- Country profile: Pakistan (subnational government), OECD–UCLG World Observatory on Subnational Government Finance and Investment (SNG-WOFI), checked 14 October 2026
- The local government system in Pakistan: country profile, Commonwealth Local Government Forum, checked 14 October 2026
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Code (provincial laws incl. Local Government Act 2013), Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, checked 14 October 2026
- Local Government and Community Development Department, Government of the Punjab, checked 14 October 2026
See also: Pakistan's official statistics and leaders · the 10 levels of power.