Provinces headed by non-PML-N governments have reportedly expressed their serious concerns over the 'meddling' in provincial affairs by the Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, the highest economic decision-making body in the country, chaired by Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. The Dr Malik-led Balochistan government, propped up by PML-N support, also expressed its concern on this subject.
The ECC was established during the rule of Ayub Khan and was the outcome of the felt need to deal with a significant rise in the number of approvals that were required to be cleared by a high-level economic decision-making body subsequent to a large-scale nationalisation. Over time, however, the ECC has evolved as a forum where cabinet members' reservations, however careful, acute and plausible, can be ignored conveniently. There is an unfortunate perception that Ishaq Dar's closeness to the Prime Minister accounts for routine bypassing of members of the Sharif cabinet that is reportedly split on several issues. An example being the recent 40 billion rupee mini-budget prepared by the Dar- led Finance Ministry wherein he first sought the Prime Minister's approval and then approved it himself as the chairman of the ECC.
The CCI provides a forum for the federal government and the provinces to seek to resolve their differences on various issues with constitutional clauses 153 and 154 dealing with the composition and issues that can be discussed in the CCI. Clause 154 states that the "Council shall formulate and regulate policies in relation to matters in Part II of the Federal Legislative List and shall exercise supervision and control over related institutions.....and council shall have a permanent secretariat and shall meet at least once in ninety days". The Sharif administration has neither set up a permanent CCI secretariat nor has met the constitutional requirement of a meeting at least every 90 days.
Ishaq Dar has cleared several controversial decisions by cabinet members in his capacity as chairman of the ECC, most notably the controversial LNG import deal with Qatar, which has raised serious concerns in Sindh. It is noteworthy that the Sindh government requested a Council of Common Interest (CCI) meeting last year; however, it is unfortunate that so far the federal government has not met this request fuelling the trust deficit between the federal government and its federating units.
The Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, has repeatedly dismissed the Sindh government's request for a CCI on LNG by stating that fuel is a federal subject and LNG is to be used for fuel. The Sindh government cites the constitutional article stipulating that the province where a natural resource namely gas is located would have first preference on that resource. Sindh maintains that its concerns with respect to the LNG deal are premised on the Centre's decision to inject more expensive LNG imports into Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) network and swap it with natural gas produced in Sindh for transport to upcountry areas. Or, in other words, the Sindh government would like to get clarity over whether Sindh would pay for the more expensive LNG instead of the considerably cheaper domestic gas? It is disturbing that the Sharif administration has given little focus to inter-provincial harmony and continues to railroad any attempt of the provinces to cite their concerns at the CCI with the objective of resolving the issue. This approach is short-sighted because at the end of the day harmonious relations with the federating units would benefit the country.
To conclude, provincial concerns need to be addressed on an emergent basis and one would hope that the federal government that has been installed through general elections begins to meet its constitutional obligations.