Punjab has lacked functional union councils ever since the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government introduced the Punjab Local Government Act, 2019.
As a result of the dissolution of the organizations created under the Punjab Local Government Act, 2013, the PTI promised new elections within a year, but the Punjab Local Government (Amendment) Act 2020 postponed them for an additional 21 months.
The Punjab Village Panchayats and Neighbourhood Councils Act, 2019 was repealed by the provincial government in February 2021, and the Punjab Local Government (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 was enacted.
All of the delimitation work completed by ECP was deemed insufficient when a new amendment legislation in Punjab cut the number of village and neighborhood councils from 25,238 to just 8,000.
