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News analysis

Hail loan, bill defaulters

Shakhawat Liton
Individuals, who borrowed thousands of crores of taka from public banks promising to pay back in time but have defaulted, have now got opportunities to become lawmakers by rescheduling the defaulted loans just seven days before filing nominations.
These people never care about the laws; the government also rarely takes measures to recover the amounts from them. But when the national polls come these people suddenly become very important because holding the election without ensuring their participation is almost impossible.
The caretaker government that earlier enacted laws to keep loan defaulters out of the national elections has now softened its stance on them. The two major political parties, the Awami League and BNP, have also put pressure on the caretaker administration in this regard.
Not only the defaulted loans, the government has also relaxed the strict provisions to keep defaulters of utility services bill out of the parliamentary polls, reducing the timeframe for paying them from three months to seven days before filing nominations.
In previous parliaments, a large number of lawmakers did not pay their telephone bills although they withdrew their phone bill allowances.
Questions have been raised why the caretaker government
has surrendered to the loan defaulters and why the two major political parties are also crying out for them.
Are the loan defaulters so powerful?
Political analysts say "yes". They are powerful since they have money to influence the political process.
Education Adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman, however, claimed on Saturday that the provision on loan defaulters was relaxed to make it "more realistic".
On recommendations of the Election Commission (EC), the caretaker government amended the Representation of the People Order (RPO) Jast Ajigust. making a provision that an individual must reschedule defaulted loans six months before filing application for candidacy in the parliamentary polls.
The new provision shut the door for loan defaulters who were planning to contest the upcoming polls by rescheduling their loans as it did not give them the required six months’ time before the election.
But the government later relaxed the provision, allowing rescheduling of defaulted loans until 15 days before filing nomination.
Even this could not satisfy the political parties. In the face of their demands, the government had to reduce the timeframe to seven days.
The August amendment to the RPO also says a person shall be disqualified for election and for being a member of parliament if they have failed to pay the telephone, gas, electricity,
water or any other bill of any service-providing organisation of the government-even after
, being served with a nonce of . three months or more from the date of submitting nomination paper.
The caretaker government first amended the timeframe to 15 days and then re-fixed it to seven days.
The BNP secretary’ general still demands providing opportunity to reschedule loans up to the day before filing nomination like the previous elections.
It is to be seen if the caretaker government relaxes the provision further.
The EC had recommended these strict provisions to end the culture of our politicians to default on loans and keep utility’ billsunpaid.
However, the reality is completely different. Loan defaulters are back to the scene again. Some of them are going to be elected members of parliament and they will make laws for the country.
Those who themselves do
not abide by the laws will be tasked with making laws for the
-people! ^joa. 4
Now, therais something that ', is discriminatory.
Loan defaulters seeking candidacy in the upcoming upazila elections are not lucky enough.
According to the upazila parishad ordinance enacted last June, individuals seeking candidacy in upazila elections must reschedule their defaulted loans one year before the date of filingapplication for the polls.
No loan defaulter got the opportunity to reschedule their loans this time because there was not enough time for that.
If any loan defaulter now wants to contest the upazila polls, they will have to repay the full amount of the loans.
Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda earlier said the EC would ask the government to amend the upazila parishad ordinance reducing the timeframe for rescheduling defaulted loans. But the commission did not do it.