Pakistan army chief says military will ‘assist’ in elections ‘within ECP codes of conduct’

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited the Army Elections Support Center in Rawalpindi on Thursday.

According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), he was given a detailed briefing on how the army would help the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to ensure this month’s general elections are “free, fair and transparent.”
General Bajwa stressed that the army’s assistance will be strictly within the bounds of the given mandate and in keeping with the ECP’s code of conduct, adding that the army must work with the rest of the country’s security apparatus to ensure a safe and secure environment during the elections so that the people of Pakistan can exercise their democratic rights.
The ISPR’s director general, Major General Asif Ghafoor, had previously stated at a press conference that the army had “no direct role in the conduct of elections,” adding that a total of 371,388 security forces officials would be deployed for election duty.