ISLAMABAD    -   Some leaked audios in­volving informal conversa­tions at the Prime Min­ister Office have stirred quite a controversy but the question still re­mains whether these leaks will snowball into a full-blown political crisis or just turn into a storm in a tea cup?

Some audio record­ings of conversations between key govern­ment figures includ­ing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, some of his cabinet mem­bers and some leaders of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had gone vi­ral on social media over the weekend.

Though the authentic­ity of these leaks has yet to be confirmed through some investigation, the government has not disputed the content, which raises serious questions on the flaws of the cyber security of the key government of­fices and the counter in­telligence mechanisms of the country. PM She­hbaz Sharif, while tak­ing the sensitivity of the matter into account, has summoned an import­ant meeting of the Na­tional Security Commit­tee (NSC) during the week to discuss the se­curity issues linked with the audio leaks. The op­position Pakistan Teh­reek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Imran Khan in his public gatherings has been try­ing to exploit the issue of leaked conversations be­tween the premier Sheh­baz and some of his close aides including PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz. Though Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan has said that the issue would be investigated thor­oughly, yet it has yet to be seen whether the govern­ment is serious enough to probe the issue or just sweep it under the carpet like other leaked audio and videos of the past. Ac­cording to some uncon­firmed reports, a formal inquiry has been started into the matter.

The present leaked conversations are dif­ferent from the past ones that involved pol­iticians and had been going viral on social media. In the past, intel­ligence agencies were being suspected behind those recordings.