ISLAMABAD: Significant questions have been raised on the politicaland resource distribution implications of the planning and development ministry's proposal to complete the first-ever digital census and convene a meeting of theCouncil of Common Interests (CCI).
The CCI secretariat has not yet released the meeting schedule, and the incumbent set up in Islamabad is considering whether to hold the meeting or leave the decision to the next elected government.
Furthermore, the current regime is faced with the challenge of justifying the use of Rs40 billion in funds for the delayed and controversial seventh population census.
Now the question arises how the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, where caretaker setups are running the show and have presented four-month budgets, possess the powers to represent and approve a population census having an impact on political dispensation and its representation in the national and provincial assemblies as well as increasing or decreasing the resources of the federating units under the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award.
Another question posed is whether the caretaker chief ministers possess the powers to approve those political and financial issues, which will have an impact over the next five to 10 years.
Another view among the power corridors is that the CCI is empowered to take a decision by majority so the forum is legally empowered to take a decision on this issue as well.
On the political front, if the CCI meets and approves the controversial population census, it will result in the reduction of around eight NA seats in Punjab, one NA seat in Karachi, and an increase in the number of seats in Balochistan and rural Sindh.
It is also being questioned whether the caretaker governments of Punjab and KP would be competent to represent their provinces in the CCI meeting where decisions would be made on political and financial issues for the next five to 10 years.
Punjab will justify the decrease in the number of seats as well as a reduction in the financial share of the largest populated province of the country in case of adoption of the latest population census.
If the CCI holds its meeting and grants its assent to the population census of 2023, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will require four months for undertaking the de-limitation exercise, while the election cycle will require at least 60 days so the elections would have to be delayed for six months at least.
There is a possibility of the CCI meeting convening in the next 48 to 72 hours, as a clear division exists in the rank and file of the incumbent Pakistan Democratic Movement-led regime.