WASHINGTON: The US State Department said on Monday that while it did not have a crystal ball to predict if there would never be another military takeover in Pakistan, the country was moving forward with democracy in a very positive manner.

State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland also observed that Pakistan was now in the process of forming a transitional government for holding the next elections.

“What is most important, the Pakistani people are now going to be afforded an opportunity, we all hope, through free, fair and transparent elections to express their will about the political future that they want to have,” she told a news briefing in Washington.

Asked if another military takeover was still possible in Pakistan, the US official said “none of us has a crystal ball” to make such a prediction but the democratic process had strengthened itself.

“What we consider extremely positive is that for the first time in history a democratic government was able to complete its term and now we look forward to the next step which is free and fair election,” she said.