The Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice on Tuesday directed Law Division to look into the composition of Council of Common Interests (CCI) from 1990s till date and inform the same to the committee for further discussion on a constitutional amendment bill. The meeting of the committee presided over by Senator Javed Abbasi was held in the Parliament House.
The committee asked the Law Division to check as to which ministers were usually part of the CCI and to which provinces they belonged to in the past. The bill under discussion seeks amendment to the Article 153 of the Constitution seeking that the members nominated by the Prime Minister in the CCI shall be one from each province other than the province from where the prime minister was elected as a member of the National Assembly.
The committee suggested this while discussing 'The Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2017', moved by Senators Murtaza Wahab and Saleem Mandviwala. During the discussion, the members of the committee suggested that instead of three members from the federal government, there be four so that there is a representative from every province as the prime minister does not represent a province but the whole of country.
The bill will be further discussed in the next meeting. Two constitutional amendment bills by Senator Mohsin Leghari seeking insertion of new Articles 95A and 136A in the Constitution were not accepted by the committee. The bills were about functionality of the federal government and provincial governments and who will replace in case of death of the head of government or the office becoming vacant by any other reason. The meeting was attended among others by Senators Farooq Naek, Mohsin Leghari, Muhammad Ali Saif, Murtaza Wahab, Secretary Law and Justice and Additional Draftsman.