Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbassi simply did not think the matter through when he raised Punjab''s representation in the Council of Common Interests (CCI) to 4 with Sindh represented by 2 and Khyber Pukhtookhwa (KPK) and Balochistan one each, former Finance Minister Dr Salman Shah told Business Recorder. Article 154 of the constitution stipulates: "the decisions of the Council shall be expressed in terms of opinion of the majority," and the Prime Minister together with three members of his cabinet requires only one chief minister of a province (in the present scenario Punjab and Balochistan) to get a majority - a majority which Abbassi did have.

Dr Shah added that appointing two ministers from Punjab is against tradition as past practice was to appoint the three federal ministers from three different provinces while the Prime Minister represents the fourth province. Prime Minister''s Office issued a notification for reconstitution of the CCI by inducting two federal ministers from Punjab - Minister Inter-Provincial Co-ordination and Minister for Finance - one from Sindh (Minister for Industries and Production) and one member each from the four provinces. As the Prime Minister is from Punjab that gives a total of 4 to Punjab.

During the Sharif administration the representation of each province in the CCI was 2: Prime Minister (Punjab), with the three federal ministers from the smaller 3 provinces: Pir Syed Sadruddin Shah Rashidi from Sindh, Lieutenant General Abdul Qadir Baloch (retd) from Balochistan and Sardar Muhammad Yousaf from KPK. Former Finance Saleem Mandviwalla termed the notification "a joke" with hidden designs to bulldoze CCI decisions in favour of the federal government. He added that when Abbasi was the Petroleum Minister he was aware of Sindh and KP''s serious concerns on issues of domestic gas connections and LNG.

Senator Mohsin Aziz, PTI, said that the notification was not acceptable to KPK and it was being reviewed and he would raise the issue in the Senate and other like minded senators while provincial governments may also take appropriate action on the matter.

"We will take the matter in the Senate''s upcoming session to highlight federal government''s deviation from strengthening tradition of taking three federal ministers in the CCI from three different provinces to maintain provincial balance in the CCI which is critical for the federation.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2017