CCI in limbo as meeting not summoned for 20th time in 14 years

ISLAMABAD: The Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments’ request for an emergency meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) remains pending.

Nine months have passed since the formation of the current government, but no meeting has been held as yet. The persistent failure to convene the Council of Common Interests (CCI) is a glaring constitutional violation that has plagued governments, regardless of the party in power. This includes the PPP, PMLN, PTI, caretaker and current governments. In the last 14 years, the Constitution was violated 20 times by not summoning the CCI meeting. Under Article (3) 154 of the Constitution, a CCI meeting is required to be held at least once in 90 days.

A notification of the Council of Common Interests formation was issued on March 25, 2024. Last month, the chief ministers of Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa wrote to the prime minister requesting to convene an emergency meeting of the CCI, but no meeting has been held as yet.

According to sources, the last CCI meeting was held on January 29, 2024, by the caretaker government. Only one meeting of the forum was convened during over one-and-a-half-year tenure of the coalition government. Besides from 2010 to 2024, only 40 meetings of the constitutional forum were convened. The PTI violated the Constitution six times in its 3-and-a-half years tenure, PMLN eight times in five years from 2013 to 2018 and the PPP thrice when the CCI meetings were delayed between 2010 and 2013. Only 11 meetings of the forum were called in three-and-a-half years of the PTI government, 16 during the tenure of PMLN government from 2013 to 2018 – and 11 meetings during the PPP government from 2010 to 2013.

The chairman of CCI is the prime minister. Four provincial chief ministers are among its members. It also includes Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Minister for SAFRON Amir Muqam.