Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reconstituted the Council of Common Interests (CCI) on Friday, notably replacing Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb with Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.
The PM is heading the CCI which constitutes the chief ministers of all four provinces. Interestingly, this is the first time in the history of the council that a Foreign Minister of Pakistan has been included in the CCI.
Business Recorder article reported that it would be normal if a Finance Minister isn’t included in the CCI because historically it has happened. However, energy and planning ministers were mostly included because they deal with provincial matters.
The presence of the Finance Minister and the Law Minister in the CCI is very important as these two portfolios are required to respond to numerous queries raised by the provinces during the meeting.
A similar pattern could be observed as PM Shehbaz gave Ishaq Dar the control of Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) as well instead of including Aurangzeb earlier this month.
