Dirty Games

After release of audio recordings of Shehbaz and Imran, it appears that the leaks saga is entering its second phase

LAHORE: The sun has set on an eventful year, 2022, and the dawn of a new beginning has emerged, but the dirty game of audio leaks on the horizon of the country’s politics will not only continue but will also enter the decisive phase of video leaks.

The drama first began in September 2022, with audio leaks of incumbent Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, his Principal Secretary Dr Tauqeer Shah, and PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz.

Following a subsequent series of leaks of audio recordings of former Prime Minister and Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan, however, it became clear who the main target of such leaks was. With the release of videos relating to the former premier in 2023, the dirty game of leaks would enter its second and most decisive phase.

Soon after the incumbent premier’s audio leaks, Shehbaz Sharif presided over a National Security Committee (NSC) meeting attended by top military officials, including the then Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Qamar Javed Bajwa. The NSC agreed to form a high-powered committee to investigate the matter, led by Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan. To date, no investigation report on who recorded and released the PM office audios has been made public.

The interior minister has recently claimed that another 25-minute scandalous audio of Imran Khan is about to be released. According to the minister, there are also videos of the former premier that capture his intimate moments. Although Rana Sana was the chairman of the audio leaks committee, he never discussed or revealed who had recorded the audio or for what purposes.

Sana’s statement came just days after Imran Khan condemned the leak of an audio allegedly recording his voice. Khan has declared that disseminating vulgar audio and video is a sin.

So far, approximately a dozen audio recordings of Imran Khan and his family have been released, and it is reported that several videos will be released soon.

The most intriguing aspect of this entire leaks saga has been that no party has approached the courts or any department for forensic or other verification of these leaks, whether fake or authentic. However, both parties, the PDM government and the PTI, are simply playing politics on this extremely sensitive issue in order to address their respective vote banks.

Analysts believed that the goal of such leaks was quite evident: powerful people wanted to smear the image of one of the most influential political “nobles” of recent times, Imran Khan, ahead of the upcoming general elections.

Previously, shortly after his ouster from the PM office in April 2022, Imran Khan had warned his middle-class vote bank about possible audio and video leaks, which he claimed could be prepared using deep-fake technology.

Following a series of leaks, the former prime minister appears hesitant to publicly mention former military establishment chief Gen. Bajwa’s name. The former premier repeatedly blamed Gen. Bajwa for his ouster, claiming that everything was done in order to bring “crooks” to power through a deal.

Speaking to Bol News, former Secretary of Defense, Lt Gen (ret.) Naeem Khalid Lodhi, said that “players” have unleashed a series of audio leaks of Imran Khan in an apparent attempt to malign and discredit him, but nothing would work against him. “With so much truth and lies these days, why should people believe in such shady tactics? At this critical juncture, Khan’s supporters are standing firmly behind him.”

According to Gen. Lodhi, videos of former PML-N Governor Sindh Muhammad Zubair were released earlier, but he survived; similarly, former President and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari was once dubbed “Mr. 10 percent,” but he survived, so why would Imran Khan not survive this time?

The former secretary of defence added that Pakistani politics is rotten to the core, which should have been avoided, and personal matters should not have been made public in this manner.

“Everyone is involved in this dirty play,” Gen. Lodhi maintained when asked who records and releases audio and video.

On the other hand, renowned political analyst Salman Abid expressed similar sentiments, saying that political rivalry should not escalate to the point where no one is safe.

“Because 2023 is an election year, every party will use dirty tactics and allegations of all kinds to target their opponents. Confrontational politics would reach a climax in 2023, with rival politicians’ characters also assassinated,” he stated.

Abid, who is concerned about the future of the country’s democracy, believes that such leaks will further erode Pakistan’s political and democratic culture. “No party would go for a forensic audit of these leaks, and they will be used as a major political weapon in the coming days, but I can assure you that the vote banks of each party, including the PTI, will remain intact.”

While much has been written about the PML-N and PPP in the past, their vote banks have remained intact to date, according to the analyst.

In response to a question, Abid stated that people vote based on their race, class, tribe, and so on, so such tactics would not have a significant impact on the vote bank.

Responding to another question, the analyst suggested that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) review its code of conduct and disqualify a candidate who accused a rival without providing solid evidence during the campaign. Furthermore, Abid stated that the Supreme Court of Pakistan should take suo moto notice of these leaks and put an end to this drama, otherwise the political and social fabric will be irreparably damaged.

He also claimed that while intelligence agencies around the world engage in phone tapping, the practise is purely for security purposes rather than using such recordings for personal or political gain.