Federation of Pakistan and the Role of Council of Common Interest (CCI): An Analysis

Abstract

This study explores the evolutionary growth of federation of Pakistan, how to divide up funds and what the constitutional body known as the Council of Common Interest is supposed to do in case of crises, according to Pakistan's 1973 constitution. Pakistan may be a newly formed nation, but its federal political history is woefully inadequate and appears to disregard federalism's guiding principles. The smaller provinces of the country have grievances towards the central government for their rights. The constitution of 1973 provides the constitutional body to resolve the contradictions and conflict between the central government and the constituent units. According to Article 153 the Council of Common Interest was created to harmonize the central- Provincial relations and insure the spirit of federalism in true sense. CCI is also liable to Institutional checks on power sharing and federal mechanism. To suppress the federalist approach a bitter experiences were practiced by the centralist forces in the country. The attack on the federalism in Pakistan did not stop on historical One Unit. The Centralist forces changed the paradigm of federation of Pakistan by 1971 crises and in result the East Pakistan separated.  The 1973 constitution of Pakistan provides the various forums to build trust and promote inter-provincial relations such as National Finance Commission (NFC) and the National Economic Council (NEC) and the CCI. But proper working of these bodies is a hard question in the federal history of Pakistan. This research paper is the scientific analysis of CCI in solving of the problems of federation of Pakistan.