Pakistan Senate election: Row over 'spy cameras' in polling booth

  • Published
Khan supporters celebrate outside parliament, Islamabad, 12 MarchImage source, EPA
Image caption,

Khan supporters celebrated outside parliament

An election in Pakistan's Senate was briefly disrupted after opposition politicians said they had found "spy cameras" hidden in a voting booth.

Prime Minister Imran Khan's party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and the opposition coalition traded blame with each other over the cameras.

Senators were electing a chairman for the upper house, in a hotly contested vote marred by controversy.

The government's preferred candidate, Sadiq Sanjrani, was re-elected.

The election was widely seen as a test of Prime Minister Khan's leadership.

In the chamber, senators chanted "shame" as opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Senator Raza Rabbani said the cameras were "against the constitution" and demanded an investigation.

Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, also with the PPP, posted photos on Twitter of the cameras he said he had found, saying they were "right over the polling booth".

This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Twitter
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip twitter post by Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar

Allow Twitter content?

This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of twitter post by Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar

Science and Technology Minister Fawad Hussain said the cameras were just part of the building's CCTV security, but Information Minister Shibli Faraz pointed the finger at the opposition, saying they were part of a "sinister" plan, external.

This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Twitter
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip twitter post 2 by Ch Fawad Hussain

Allow Twitter content?

This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of twitter post 2 by Ch Fawad Hussain

According to Pakistan's Dawn newspaper, external, the booth was removed, and voting continued after a new one was installed.

How heated was the election?

Mr Sanjrani won another term as the Senate chairman, beating former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, of the opposition PDM (Pakistan Democratic Movement) party.

Billionaire Mirza Moha­m­mad Afridi was elected deputy chairman.

Both men are supported by the PTI.

Image source, EPA

The opposition now has a slim majority in the upper house but backroom political wheeling and dealing is common, the BBC's Secunder Kermani reports.

This Senate election has been particularly divisive.

Last week, the PTI accused the opposition of bribing some government parliamentarians into voting against Finance Minister Hafeez Shaikh and unseating him. The opposition denied the allegation.

In response to the shock loss, Imran Khan held a confidence vote in parliament, and vowed to stand down if he lost.

Opposition politicians refused to take part, saying he would win regardless. In the end the prime minister received votes from just over half of the parliament.

Pakistan holds Senate elections every three years for half of the members. Senators are elected for six years, while the chairperson and deputy each have three-year terms.

You may be interested in watching:

Media caption,

How much influence does the Pakistani army have in politics?

Related topics