In a first, foreign minister replaces finance minister in CCI

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved reconstitution of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) on Friday, replacing the finance minister with the foreign minister.

President Asif Ali Zardari, on the advice of PM Shehbaz, constituted the eight-member CCI under Article 153 of the Constitution, said a notification.

The CCI is being headed by PM Shehbaz and all the four chief ministers are among the council’s members.

The notification read that Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, and Safron Minister Amir Muqam are also included in the CCI.

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

This is not the first instance that PM Shehbaz has not included the finance minister in a committee 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 with headship of the key economic body.

Meanwhile, former chairman Senate Mian Raza Rabbani termed the inclusion of foreign minister in Council of Common Interest (CCI) in place of finance minister is “unusual” but “constitutional” despite no relevance of foreign minister in the CCI as it is the discretion of prime minister to appoint any cabinet member as a member of CCI as per Article 153 of the Constitution.

“It is prime minister discretion to appoint any cabinet members as member of the Council of Common Interest (CCI) and though the inclusion of the foreign minister in the CCI is unusual as foreign minister does not have relevance to Council of Common Interest,” he said while talking with The News when sought his remarks on the inclusion of the foreign minister in the CCI.

Mian Raza Rabbani, the person behind 18th constitutional amendment, said through the 18th constitutional amendment, they brought the clause that the CCI would be headed by prime minister, besides the chief ministers of all the four Province and three members of federal cabinet nominated by the prime minister would be the members.

Raza Rabbani said it was not constitutional obligation that finance minister should always be part of the CCI as usually the finance minister used to be a member of the CCI as the financial matters of the provinces also come under discussion. “But if needed the presence of the finance minister could be invited in the CII as special invitee.

He also quoted Article 153 of the constitution that read as, “153 (1) There shall be a Council of Common Interests, in this Chapter referred to as the Council, to be appointed by the President. (c) three members from the Federal Government to be nominated by the Prime Minister from time to time.”