People who sold votes should be treated in exemplary manner: Fawad Chaudhry

• Fawad Chaudhry claims that one cannot stab the leader whose name got them votes in the first place. 
• He says that the decision to count votes of MNAs is the speaker's.
• Urges state to investigate horse-trading incident thoroughly. 

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Thursday said that for the politics in the country to be set right, it is vital that the people (dissident PTI MNAs) who sold their votes are dealt with in an "exemplary manner".

Addressing a press conference along with the Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill outside the Supreme Court, Fawad threw shade on the MNAs who allegedly sold their votes against PM Imran Khan ahead of the no-confidence motion.

Fawad reprimanded the dissident MNAs' behaviour by saying that it is "disdainful" that someone would stab and betray the same leader whose name got them votes in the first place.

The minister added that the decision about whether to count the votes of the dissident MNAs or not is solely that of the speaker of the National Assembly.

He urged the state to investigate the horse-trading incident thoroughly and to give an exemplary judgement regarding it.

On the other hand, Azhar said that the PML-N has always tried to raise controversies within political institutions.

He said that in the country's political arena, on one hand, there are people who "sell their votes" and on the other are those who claim they are truthful and honest, suggesting that the former are the MNAs while the latter are PML-N leaders.