On July 25, up to 106 million registered voters will go to the polls in Pakistan to elect a new government. This is likely to mark a third successive transfer of power following the end of the military dictatorship led by General Pervez Musharraf in 2008.

While general elections are being held on time - 60 days after the completion of the previous government's five-year term on May 31 - uncertainty and intrigue continue to haunt the polity, with the historically dominant military always at the ready to assert itself as arbiter of Pakistan's structure of power.