Wilful defaulters of loans and bills are be made ineligible as candidates to run for Parliament. A loan defaulter must pay off all loans and interests completely at least six months prior to filing for nomination as a candidate for Parliament. Requirements to be put in place to make anyone ineligible to remain as a member of Parliament if he or she becomes a loan defaulter after the election.

Year
2025
Reform Domain
Electoral Process Electoral Process
Sub Domain
Eligibilities and Ineligibilities of Candidates
Source of Reform Proposals
Electoral Reform Commission
Reform Proposed
Reform Proposed
Reform Initiated
Reform Initiated
Legal and Policy Framework
Legal and Policy Framework
Operationalisation
Operationalisation
Action Implementation
Action Implementation
Stage of Implementation
Reform Proposed
Reform Proposed
This reform proposal has been articulated in the Electoral Reform Commission Report, but has yet to be officially initiated. For the upcoming election, the Election Commission is expected to follow the existing practice, including obtaining CIB reports from Bangladesh Bank to determine loan-defaulter status.
Observation
    The existing legal framework already defines disqualification criteria for loan defaulters. Relevant provisions of the RPO state as follows:

    Article 12(1):

    ‘if he or it is a defaulter within the meaning of the expression “defaulter loanee” as defined in the Bank-Company Act, 1991 (Act 14 of 1991) and, for a financial institution, as defined by Bangladesh Bank under the Financial Institutions Act, 1993 (Act No. 27 of 1993). The list of defaulters may be obtained from the CIB of the Bangladesh Bank or from the concerned bank or financial institution.’

    The definition of willful defaulters is not clearly specified in the relevant laws. The Election Commission does not at present have the capacity to verify all candidates' documents on their own. Bangladesh Bank will need to support to this end.

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Legal and Policy Framework
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Operationalisation
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Reform Proposed
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Last Updated: 14th December 2025

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