Awami League's General Secretary Obaidul Quader said the BNP and their alliance parties are turning to foreigners instead of voters.

Speaking at a meeting of the Awami League's secretaries with the Dhaka north-south branch and affiliated organisations' secretaries at the central office of the ruling party on Wednesday (5 July), he said, "They are not turning to the voters. They are turning to foreigners instead. They think foreign representatives will grant them visas."

Quader, also the minister of Road Transport and Bridges, said the upcoming national polls will follow the same trend of impartiality as the city corporation polls. 

He said, "The propaganda spread regarding the five city corporation elections is far from the truth. While the BNP did not participate in the elections, the presence of voters for other parties and independent candidates was good."

"Many spread the word that voters have no interest in voting and that the election means disturbance and fake votes. None of this happened in reality. From that perspective, we see hope in Bangladesh's elections. Sheikh Hasina has made the election system democratic."

Among others, Awami League's Joint General Secretaries Dr Hasan Mahmud, Mahbubul Alam Hanif, AFM Bahauddin Nasim and leaders of the affiliated organisations attended the meeting.