Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Saturday said the government will arrest PPP MNA Jam Abdul Karim — an accused in the Nazim Jokio murder case who is in Dubai and plans to return to Pakistan to cast his vote in the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan — on his arrival to the country.

“Karim will be immediately arrested and his custody will be handed over to the Sindh Police. I have talked to the provincial inspector general regarding the case,” the interior minister said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.

He added that the Pakistan Peoples Party MNA’s name will be added to the exit control list and the ministry was pondering over flagging the accused to Interpol.

Talking about the protection order that the MNA had apparently taken ahead of his arrival to the country, Rashid said the order could only be issued to those accused who were in the country.

The Sindh High Court on Friday granted 10-day protective bail to Karim in the Nazim Jokhio murder case, reported Dawn.

The interior minister also criticised the opposition party for calling a “fugitive murderer” from abroad for casting vote in the no-trust motion. “That shows their [opposition’s] tangain kaanp rahi hain nervousness .”

Rashid also talked about the opposition’s venues of the public gatherings in Islamabad, saying the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl had been allotted the H-9 park’s Sunday bazaar where they were preparing the stage and the government would provide security to them.

However, he added that the opposition party had to submit a new request for tomorrow (Sunday) and give surety that they would not disrupt the traffic on the Sri Nagar Highway. “The PML-N has not submitted any request in writing so far for the venue of the public gathering. Requests submitted by their local leaders have been rejected as per the high court orders which stated that the rallies would not disrupt traffic on highways.”

In an apparent reference to opposition leaders, the interior minister said: “Everyone should listen to it carefully. No one is allowed to stage a sit-in in the federal capital and no one is allowed to block the passage of the other party.

“All the [opposition] parties are respectable for us. But if someone tries to break the law, the ministry will take action against them.”

He added that the event of the public gathering, which has been announced by the government and opposition in the federal capital, was an “important day in the democracy of the country” and “everyone should take responsibility for it”.

According to the interior minister, voting on the no-confidence motion against the prime minister would be held on either April 3 or 4 in the National Assembly when all the leaders, including the opposition big wigs, would be given “full security”. No one is allowed to enter the Red Zone on the day of voting, he added.

Elaborating the procedure to call in the army to assist the capital administration in keeping the peace, Rashid said the administration writes to the interior ministry to call the army in the federal capital and the minister first gets approval from the prime minister and then forces would be called in Islamabad, under Article 245 of the Constitution. “I hope the situation will not need that.”

Rashid had proposed to the prime minister that the government should present a "good budget" and then start preparing for an early election. “This is purely my suggestion and the prime minister could reject it.”