ISLAMABAD - Ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) is not calling the meeting of Council of Common Interests (CCI) despite undue delay in the settlement of important matters only because the Chief Minister Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa Pervaiz Khattak was in the state of indecision on participation in it.
Sources aware of the developments taking place on this front informed The Nation that the CCI is the forum where all the four chief ministers and prime minister use to take crucial decision about various issues concerning the federating units with consensus.
The government was planning to call the meeting of CCI today along side the Federal Cabinet meeting scheduled for the day but after not getting confirmation of KP CM’s participation in the moot the government had deferred the plan because his presence is essential to decide some important matters like holding of population census.
When contacted the officials in Prime Minister’s Office denied any such plan of calling the CCI meeting today, adding that before holding such a meeting a prior confirmation of availability from all the four chief ministers is necessary, but no such activity is done so far.
Sources in the government informed that after the announcement of KP CM’s refusal to attend the CCI meeting, the federal government in response deferred the meeting to discuss the important issues relating to the federating units including payment of royalty of power generation, settlement of pending matters after the devolution of power and holding of fresh population census and holding of local bodies elections across the four provinces.
The sources said that the PTI leadership was divided over the issue as some of the senior party leaders were of the view that Chief Minister KPK must attend the CCI meeting to plead the case of his province while there were also some voices against his participation in the CCI meeting especially when the federal government was arresting their peaceful demonstrators.
Previously, the decision of holding census was deferred in the last meeting of the CCI held on May 29 on the request of the Balochistan Government because the law and order situation in the province was not conducive for holding of population census.