Allowing Loan Defaulters and Dual Citizens to Contest a Major Election Failure
Citizens for Good Governance (Shujan) has identified the opportunity given to accused loan defaulters and dual citizens to contest as the most notable failure of the Thirteenth National Parliamentary Election. The organization said that at least 45 loan defaulter candidates were allowed to participate in this election, in some cases by obtaining stay orders from the High Court. This list included 41 candidates from the BNP and four from Jamaat-e-Islami. Among the accused loan defaulters, 11 were elected, all of whom were candidates of the BNP alliance.
In addition, several candidates were allowed to contest freely despite not having documentary proof of renouncing dual citizenship. It was alleged that the Election Commission interpreted the law beyond its jurisdiction to allow them to pass.
These findings were presented on Wednesday at a press conference titled “The Thirteenth National Parliamentary Election and Referendum-2026 in Shujan’s Perspective,” organized by Citizens for Good Governance (Shujan) at the Zahur Hossain Chowdhury Hall of the National Press Club. The organization presented its overall observations regarding the national election and referendum held on February 12.
The written statement at the press conference was presented by Ekram Hossain, a member of the National Committee of Shujan, under the chairmanship of Professor Dr. Badiul Alam Majumdar, Editor and Chief Executive of the Trustee Board of Shujan. The event was moderated by Shujan’s Central Coordinator, Dilip Kumar Sarkar.
