ISPR Director General Major General Asif Ghafoor on Wednesday expressed his gratitude to the people of Pakistan for displaying their love and respect for the armed forces and law enforcement agencies during the polls. In a tweet, the spokesperson for armed forces said, "You (nation) have rejected all kinds of malicious propaganda," adding, "We are strong because we have your (nation's) unflinching support."
"Our lives are dedicated to Pakistan and its People. Pakistan wins again!" he tweeted. Earlier, Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and his wife cast their votes in Rawalpindi, said the spokesperson for the military's media wing. The army chief urged the nation to "come out and vote undeterred" in order to defeat enemy forces working against Pakistan, DG ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor tweeted.
"We are target of inimical forces working against Pak. We have come a long way in our comprehensive national effort to fail them. We are united & steadfast to defeat them, and 'TODAY' through our 'VOTES'. Please come out & vote undeterred', CoAS," the tweet said. The country is voting today in a general election, whereas the competition is tough between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's Imran Khan and jailed ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, with the prospect of either winning a clear majority.
Polling began at 8AM and concluded, without any break, at 6PM across the country's 85,307 polling stations, of which 17,007 have been declared "highly sensitive".
As many as 12,570 candidates are contesting for a total of 849 seats of national and provincial assemblies in the election.