Salahuddin rejects ‘Loan Defaulters’ Parliament’ claim

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed on Thursday rejected the claim that the current parliament is a “parliament of loan defaulters,” saying no sitting lawmaker has been legally declared a loan defaulter.

He made the remarks in response to a point of order raised by Opposition Chief Whip and National Citizen Party (NCP) Convener Nahid Islam in the Jatiya Sangsad.

The minister said that under the law, including the Representation of the People Order, anyone declared a loan defaulter by a court is considered ineligible to contest parliamentary elections.

“Those who are in Parliament may have loans, but they are not loan defaulters,” Salahuddin Ahmed said.

He explained that some candidates may have faced loan-related cases filed by banks or private institutions, but those matters had already been settled by the High Court or Supreme Court before they were declared valid candidates.

“Once a case is resolved by the court and a person is declared a valid candidate, he or she is no longer considered a loan defaulter,” he added.

The minister said describing the current parliament as a “loan defaulters’ parliament” does not have any legal basis and termed the remark defamatory, suggesting that it should be removed from parliamentary records.

Earlier, Nahid Islam said he had raised concerns about loan defaulters receiving election nominations both before and after the polls. He claimed that he had mentioned the loan amounts of some lawmakers in his first parliamentary speech but did not reveal their names out of respect.

He said if there were a large number of loan defaulters in Parliament, people would naturally question it and refer to it as a “loan defaulters’ parliament.”

TZ