On Thursday, army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa visited the military’s election support centre in Rawalpindi and re-emphasised that all military personnel deployed for election duties must strictly comply with the code of conduct given by the ECP.

It is fairly clear that an already lacklustre campaign season was further vitiated by militant violence. So it is imperative that the polling process and polling day itself be secured to the maximum extent possible by the state and the security apparatus.

A security apparatus that is focused primarily on securing polling day and providing an environment as free and fair of threat and intimidation as possible would surely be a boost to the democratic order.

The people’s right to vote in an environment free of fear, intimidation and the threat of violence of all kinds should be kept front and centre.

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