On the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, President Asif Ali Zardari has reconstituted the Council of Common Interests (CCI) including Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and excluding Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb. According to the notification released on Friday, the Chairman of the eight-member CCI will be Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif while the chief ministers of all four provinces will be its members. For the first time, the position of minister of foreign affairs was included in the Council instead of the minister of finance. Although the federal minister of finance traditionally serves as a permanent member of the CCI, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has included Ishaq Dar in the Council. Ishaq Dar is also the head of Cabinet’s Privatisation Committee. According to the notification, Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif, SAFRON Minister Amir Muqam and the federal planning minister were other members of the CCI.

According to the notification, the CCI came into existence on March 21, 2024. According to the notification issued by the Secretariat of Council of Common Interests on March 25, 2024, in exercise of powers conferred under Article 153 of the Constitution of Pakistan, the president on the advice of prime minister, has constituted eight-member Council of Common Interests, with effect from March 21, 2024, as follows: (i) Prime Minister (Chairman);(ii) Chief Minister Balochistan (Member); (iii) Chief Minster, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Member);(iv) Chief Minister, Punjab (Member); (v) Chief Minister, Sindh (Member);(vi), Ishaq Dar, Minister for Foreign Affairs;(vii) Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Minister for Defence ; and (viii) Engr Amir Muqam, Minister for States& Frontier Region (SAFRAN). The new notification supersedes Secretariat of CCI’s notification of January 9, 2024 issued during the term of caretaker government.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan