Finance minister was not made CCI member in the past too

ISLAMABAD: From the records of Council of Common Interests, it appears that the finance minister has not been made a member of the CCI in the past as well.

No minister, including the finance minister, is a mandatory or permanent member of the Council under the rules. The permanent members of eight-member council include the prime minister as chairman and four chief ministers as members. The nomination of the remaining ministerial members (federal ministers) is the authority of the prime minister who represents the federation.

The record shows that finance minister was not a member of the CCI even during the tenure of PPP, PTI and PDM. When the Council of Common Interests was formed in May 2022 during the PDM coalition government under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the finance minister was not included as a member. Among the ministers who represented the federation in the council were Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Trade Minister Syed Naveed Qamar and Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Rafiq.

When the CCI was formed for the first time in August 2018 during the PTI regime, the finance minister was included in it, while in the reorganization in December 2019, former prime minister Imran Khan removed the finance minister from the CCI.

When the CCI was reconstituted in 2012 during the regime of PPP, the finance minister was not included in it. Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi made the finance minister a member of the CCI. Caretaker prime minister Anwaar-ul-Haq also made the finance minister a member and now Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has formed the CCI in March 2024, but the finance minister was not included in it, not the first precedent.