Foreign minister replaces finance minister in CCI

ISLAMABAD: The foreign minister for the first time has replaced the finance minister in the Council of Common Interests (CCI) as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved the reconstitution of the body.

On the prime minister’s advice, President Asif Ali Zardari constituted the eight-member council under Article 153 of the Constitution.

The CCI will be headed by Shehbaz, while all four chief ministers are among the council’s members.

As per the notification, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, and Safron Minister Amir Muqam are also part of the CCI.

The CCI is the largest decision-making forum in the country which decides all those matters, including the distribution of natural resources, upon which there is a disagreement between the centre and provinces.

This is not the first instance that PM Shehbaz has snubbed the finance minister and given a task to Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.

Last week, PM Shehbaz constituted six separate cabinet committees on economic coordination, energy, Chinese investment projects, privatisation, State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and disposal of legislative cases.

In his decision, the PM decided to keep the ECC with himself while he tasked Foreign Minister Dar to head the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation.

Traditionally these committees have been headed by the finance minister.

However, a day after the announcement and receiving backlash PM Shehbaz reshuffled the ECC and tasked Finance Minister Aurangzeb as head of the key economic body.