Banks, utilities oppose EC plan to allow defaulters to contest in polls

Banks and utilities have objected to a plan of the Election Commission to allow some defaulters to stand in polls.

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal said the EC would decide later whether to change Representation of the People Order, or RPO, in the wake of the reservations expressed in his meeting with representatives of the banks and utilities on Monday.

According to the RPO, people who have defaulted on loans and utility bills payment are ineligible to contest in elections. They must clear all the bills and have the loans rescheduled before submitting nomination papers.

If the Credit Information Bureau identifies them as defaulters, they cannot join the race.

The EC now wants to change the provision so that only those who are accused in a case for defaulting on loans cannot stand in elections. It proposed to drop the requirement of clearance from CIB altogether.

“Connections are cut off if someone does not pay bills. In many cases, they may not be aware that they defaulted on utility bills for some reason,” argued CEC Awal.

“We made a draft to make ineligible only those who have defaulted on loans to loot the funds. But the bankers said all the defaulters are serious defaulters.”

“They [bankers] do not feel comfortable with our proposal,” Awal said.

Ruhul Ahsan, general manager of Pubali Bank, said they objected to the EC proposal because filing a case against a defaulter is a lengthy process. “Therefore, everyone on the CIB list must be branded defaulters.”

Rashidur Rahman, chief engineer of Dhaka Electric Supply Company, said the company notifies the customers and cuts connections whenever they do not pay bills timely, but filing a case put the organisation at risk.