The chummy relationship between Pakistan and China is no hidden secret. There have been reports of Pakistan leadership bowing to China on different occasions and acting as per the whims of the CCP. But the shocking revelation from Pakistan Parliament's upper house on Friday shows just how deep China's influence runs into Pakistan's inner circle.
The opposition senators accused the government of installing spy cameras in the Pakistan Senate and inside the polling booths as the voting for Senate Chairman and Deputy Chairman was underway. The special session was chaos after the opposition leader Raza Rabbani of PPP claimed "secret cameras" had been installed at the polling booth, The Dawn reported. "This is against Article 226 of the Constitution," he said. The house started chanting "shame, shame."
As the opposition leaders protested, the presiding officer ordered for changing the polling booth and welcomed representatives from both sides to inspect them. A probe has also been demanded by opposition leaders.
In a letter to the presiding officer, opposition leaders Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar and Dr Musadik Malik, asked for the formation of a Senate committee to probe the incident. They mentioned in the letter that they discovered four cameras, which were allegedly installed to record the votes as they were being cast.
The Senate committee probing the incident should have equal number of representatives from the treasury and opposition. Until the investigation is concluded, the leaders demanded the spy cameras by secured and sealed.
Spy camera or CCTV?
The government is largely mum on the incident, but the Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry tried defending. He reacted to the photos of the hidden cameras shared by the opposition leaders, saying they looked more like CCTV than spy cameras.
"The camera can be fitted in the head of a nail. The detection of such cameras is impossible. In all likelihood, the CCTV camera cable has been misunderstood as a spy camera," Chaudhry tweeted defining a spy camera. But the justification didn't stand the test of Twitter as many criticised the government for such a move and connected the dots with Chinese link behind it all.
