The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has postponed all scheduled by-elections across the country due to the ongoing flood emergency. In an official statement issued on Thursday, the ECP cited the widespread devastation caused by floods as the reason for deferring by-polls in five National Assembly and four Punjab Assembly constituencies.

The by-elections were originally scheduled following the disqualification and sentencing of multiple PTI lawmakers in connection with the May 9 cases. The affected National Assembly seats include NA-66 (Wazirabad), NA-96 and NA-104 (Faisalabad), NA-129 (Lahore), and NA-143 (Sahiwal), while the Punjab Assembly seats impacted are PP-73 (Sargodha), PP-87 (Mianwali), PP-97 (Faisalabad), and PP-203 (Sahiwal).

According to the ECP, a new election schedule will be released once the flood situation improves. The commission highlighted that significant damage to infrastructure—especially schools and other buildings designated as polling stations or storage facilities for election material—had made it impossible to proceed. Additionally, civil administration and law enforcement agencies are currently occupied with rescue and relief efforts, and are unable to carry out election-related duties.

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The Punjab government had also requested the postponement of the by-elections, citing the urgent need to use public buildings and staff for emergency response. The ECP noted that a large number of residents in the affected constituencies had been displaced by heavy rains and flooding, making voter participation extremely difficult. Proceeding with elections under such conditions could lead to disenfranchisement and an unrepresentative turnout.

Taking all these factors into account, the ECP has decided to delay the electoral process until the situation stabilizes and conditions are suitable for holding free, fair, and inclusive elections.