SHAFAQNA PAKISTAN (Shia News Agency)
The Council of Common Interests CCI is an arcane platform, but its powers and potential impact are anything but. As set out in Article 154(1) of the Constitution, “The Council shall formulate and regulate policies in relation to matters in Part II of the Federal Legislative List and shall exercise supervision and control over related institutions.” Part II of the Federal Legislative List covers everything from the census to supervision and management of public debt and from the railways, ports and electricity to national planning and national economic coordination. The government itself appears to be aware of the practical need to convene the CCI, with meetings scheduled at least twice in recent months but then not held for reasons not explained by either the Ministry for Inter Provincial Coordination or the Prime Minister’s Office, the prime minister being the chairman of the CCI.Now, there is a fresh meeting reportedly scheduled for this week and perhaps, with the matter being taken up in parliament, it will finally be held. The neglect of the CCI also underlines a wider problem: the PML-N government’s almost total lack of interest in institution building and preference for ad hoc, extra-parliamentary and extra-institutional decision-making.
pakistan.shafaqna.com
