- Senate chairman says govt violated constitution as CCI meeting should be held within 90 days but 288 days have passed and govt has summoned moot
Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Committee, Raiz Hussain Pirzada Monday apprised the Senate that a meeting of Council of Common Interests (CCI) would be held in the third week of January 2016.
Replying to a motion moved by Senator Sassui Palijo to discuss the domain and jurisdiction of the Council of Common Interests as required under clause (3) of the Article 154 of the Constitution, he said that after taking input from the chief secretaries from all four provinces to finalise the agenda, the meeting of CCI would be convened in third week of January next year.
He said important issues relating to water and power had been discussed in the meeting of Inter-Provincial Coordination Committee, in which representatives of all the four provinces participated and gave their invaluable input.
The minister said that the system was in its evolutionary process; therefore, there was some delay in the CCI meeting.
He said that the government was interested in holding its meeting, as it wanted to sort-out all issues with a consensus.
He said that the Secretariat of the CCI would be setup soon as the Finance Ministry and Cabinet had already given its approval, adding that secretaries of all four provinces had also demanded early the set-up of the Secretariat.
He appreciated the pragmatic approach and suggestions given by the senators to make CCI more vibrant and continue its role in solving disputes and creating more harmony among federating units and the federation.
However, the Senate chairman expressed his dissatisfaction with the delay in the CCI meeting, and asked why it was not convened within the constitutional limitation of 90 days.
He said that even the resolution of the Senate on CCI, setting-up its permanent secretariat, and holding its meeting in 90 days, had been ignored.
He said that the CCI meeting had been convened despite the lapse of 288 days, which was a constitutional violation.
He said that discussing issues at the Inter-Provincial Coordination Committee level could not be a substitute and/or alternative for the CCI.
Earlier, Senator Sussui Palijo, Mir Kabeer, Usman Kakar, Mukhtar Ijaz, Farhatullah Babar, Saeed Gani and Shahi Syed criticised the government for not holding CCI meetings and not discussing important issues on this important platform.
