RAWALPINDI, Aug 6: The district government has asked the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and Muttahida Majlis- i-Amal (MMA) to decide about their August 14 rallies within two days.

The representatives of both the alliances met the acting district Nazim, Raja Javed Ikhlas, on Wednesday on his invitation to discuss their plans for the rallies.

The district government offered both the alliances to either hold a joint rally or choose different timings for their gatherings, as the venue requested by both the parties was same.

Initially, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal and ARD had given a joint call for the August 14 rally but later the tilt of the former towards the government side on the contentious issue of LFO forced the latter to part ways and make separate arrangements for the rally.

Talking to this reporter after talks with the leaders of both the alliances, Javed Ikhlas said: “We have conveyed them our willingness to allow them to hold a public gathering provided the sacred occasion of Independence Day is not made controversial. We, therefore, asked them to either hold a joint meeting or select different timings.”

Mr Ikhlas said the representatives of the alliances had sought time to discuss the proposal with their leaders. “We accordingly asked them to inform the district government about their decision within two days,” the acting nazim said.

Mr Ikhlas said during the meeting the representatives of both the alliance tried to prove that they were the first to announce the rally and, therefore, reserved the right to hold the meeting first.

The acting nazim said the district government would decide on its own if the MMA and ARD failed to reach any decision within the given time.