ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday approved the reconstitution of the Council of Common Inte­rests (CCI), which would be headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The CCI was reconstituted due to change of government. The last council was presided over by former prime minister Imran Khan with former Punjab chief minister Sardar Usman Buzdar its member. However, after PTI-led government’s ouster at the Centre and in Punjab, Imran Khan and Mr Buzdar are no longer part of the council.

According to the Presidency, Mr Alvi had reconstituted the council on the advice of Prime Minister Sharif under Article 153 of the Constitution.

The law states that four chief ministers and an equal number of members from the federal government to be nominated by the prime minister from time to time will be members.

Besides the prime minister, other CCI members are chief ministers of the four provinces and three nominees of the federal government — Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Commerce Minister Naveed Qamar and Aviation and Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, the statement added.

Under the Constitution, the CCI is responsible for formulating and regulating policies in relation to matters included in the federal legislative list and exercising supervision and control over related institutions.

Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2022