IT has not even been a month since the new government was sworn in and important cracks in its otherwise powerful edifice are already beginning to show. Last week, for example, the prime minister had to announce the composition of some important cabinet committees, and within a day, make changes to the list.

One of these was the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP), and the other was the crucial Economic Coordination Committee (ECC). This is not just some bureaucratic wrangling. These are vital decision-making centres, especially considering that the areas they will be dealing with have direct bearing on the successor IMF programme.

In the first draft, the prime minister appointed himself the chair of the ECC, but then a day later issued a new notification appointing the finance minister instead. The position is usually held by the finance minister so it was only natural that questions arose when the prime minister appointed himself in that seat.

For most people the answer was simple. The PML-N wants to keep as much of executive decision-making authority inside the family as is possible. Mr Ishaq Dar, the foreign minister, has surprisingly been appointed to chair the CCoP, which has historically been chaired by the finance minister.

Today, the ghosts of the past are rising up to haunt the country all over again.

In at least one instance, that of the ECC, the decision was reversed quickly but some damage had already been done. What everyone feared — that the new government........

© Dawn