Finance Adviser says loan defaulters will be barred from contesting JS elections

Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed has made it clear that loan defaulters will not be allowed to contest the upcoming general election, expected to take place before Ramadan in February next year.

“However, if politicians obtain nominations and votes in exchange for money, the government will have no role in that,” he told reporters at a press conference at his ministry office in Dhaka on Wednesday.

He said the government is committed to holding the 13th parliamentary election in a free, fair, and inclusive manner, and the finance ministry is ready to provide full support to ensure that goal.

Under current law, loan defaulters are barred from running for parliament. Section 12 of the 1972 Representation of the People Order states that no loan defaulter is eligible to be a member of the National Parliament. In practice, however, this provision is often circumvented ahead of elections.

“Economic development depends on political culture. It is the Election Commission’s duty to identify loan defaulters. Yet, for example, Mahiuddin Khan Alamgir, a former home minister in the Awami League government, served a full five-year term despite being a loan defaulter, thanks to a court stay order,” he said.

On the influence of black money in the upcoming polls, Salehuddin said the matter falls under the jurisdiction of the Election Commission. He noted that black money has two dimensions — its source and the process through which it is used — and that its sources have been largely curtailed compared to the past.

“In earlier times, a single person could own a bank, an industry, a newspaper, and a flat. That is no longer possible due to the system of checks and balances now in place,” he added.