Daily Times

Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa Wednesday termed the general elections a ‘national duty’ and said it should be performed with utmost responsibility and without losing any focus on defence and internal security challenges in hand. The army chief made these remarks while chairing the 211th Corps Commanders’ Conference at the General Headquarters, according to a press statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

With regards to the July 25 elections, “the forum discussed provision of mandated assistance to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for free, fair and transparent conduct of General Elections 2018”.

The ECP has requested the army to contribute 350,000 troops to secure the polling stations as well as the printing presses.

“The forum reviewed geo-strategic environment and recent security and other related developments in the region,” the army said, adding that the forum decided to continue contributing positive efforts to carry forward the dividends of the achieved domestic peace and stability beyond borders to the region.

The army commanders also discussed the progress of Operation Radd-ul-Fassad and the socio-economic development in cleared areas with a ‘commitment to achieve lasting peace and stability’.

Published in Daily Times, June 28^th 2018.