KARACHI: In a first, the foreign minister has been included in the Council of Common Interests (CCI) while the finance minister has been excluded, it emerged on Friday.

According to a notification from the CCI Secretariat, dated March 25, President Asif Ali Zardari constituted the council on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s advice with effect from March 21, reported Dawn.com.

The newly constituted council includes the premier, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Minister of States and Frontier Regions Amir Muqam, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti.

Notably absent is Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb. He was also initially excluded from the composition of the Economic Coordi­nation Committee last week before PM Shehbaz decided to hand over the committee’s chairmanship to Aurangzeb.

Dar is also heading the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation. The committee is one that has “historically been chaired by the finance minister”, according to journalist Khurram Husain.

The finance minister was part of the CCI in the previous caretaker government, the PTI government but not in the Pakistan Democratic Movement-led government.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2024