Pakistani election presiding officers (R) receive election materials at the distribution point in Rawalpindi on May 10, 2013. – AFP Photo

The people of Pakistan will vote today for its future as the much awaited date of May 11 is finally here, the day many thought would somehow not arrive.

Most of the political parties ran their election campaigns under constant threats by the militants which ended at midnight on Thursday.

The outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had vowed to target electioneering of PPP, ANP and MQM, the parties they said to have secular views and an un-Islamic conduct.

However, the said parties, along with few others which came under Pakistani Taliban attack, braved the threats and vowed to not bow down to the terrorists.

Saturday's vote will mark the first ever democratic transition of power in Pakistan.

An elected civilian government has completed a full five-year term and will hand over power to another through the ballot box in a country where there have been three military coups and four military rulers.

Polls will open at 8 am and close at 5 pm, allowing an electorate of more than 86 million to vote for the 342-member national assembly and four provincial assemblies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan.

Around 120 people lost their lives and more than 400 injured in the ongoing onslaught by the Taliban militants since mid-April in the run up to the 2013 polls, which are dubbed as the bloodiest in the country’s history.

“To revolt against this system, the TTP have planned several actions on May 11, so we appeal to the people to stay away from polling stations to save their lives,” TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said.

As many as 10 people were killed and dozens injured across the country on the eve of the general elections also.

Analysts consider the 2013 polls as most unpredictable among the previously held nine general elections due to many factors. One of the factors is emergence of third political force in shape of former cricket star Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI).

Widespread disenchantment with the two mainstream parties appeared this week to have brought a late surge of support for the PTI chief, who could end up holding the balance of power if there is no clear-cut winner.

If that happens, weeks of haggling to form a coalition will follow and raise the risk of an unstable government in a country ruled by the military for more than half of its history.

That would only make it more difficult to reverse the disgust with politicians felt among the country's 180 million people and drive through the reforms needed to revive its near-failed economy.