LAHORE, July 6: The Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy failed on the second day of its meeting on Tuesday to decide who should challenge Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz in the by-election for two National Assembly seats to be held on Aug 18.

After hours of People's Party Parliamentarians-Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) talks and then a plenary session of the alliance, its chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim told newsmen that all ARD parties had been allowed to file nomination papers of their candidates for the seats.

The alliance will hold its next meeting on July 10 in Islamabad, afterwhich only the consensus candidates decided by it will stay in the field. Sources said after the meeting that nomination papers of PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N acting president Makhdoom Javed Hashmi would not be filed because of some legal complications.

They said the PPP was willing to leave the Attock seat to the PML-N, provided some heavyweight, like Raja Zafarul Haq, was prepared to contest. But Mr Haq was not interested in contesting the election, they said.

Mr Fahim said the government had already declared Mr Aziz the next prime minister, which implied that it wanted to win the by-election at all costs. "This is pre-poll rigging," he alleged.

He refuted the impression that the PML-N was trying to dictate its terms for cooperation with the PPP. PML-N leaders Iqbal Zafar Jhagra and Tehmina Daultana said their party would prefer to cooperate with its ARD allies.

They said there was no possibility of their party joining hands with the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal even if the ARD failed nominate consensus candidates. Mr Fahim told Dawn that his party had not issued any instructions on who should file nomination papers. He said he hoped that the alliance would succeed in fielding consensus candidates.

The ARD, through a resolution, demanded that the government should notstop former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif from returning to the country. It said fresh election should be held under the supervision of an interim government of national consensus and an independent Election Commission. A resolution called for withdrawal of cases against Asif Zardari and Javed Hashmi.

Another resolution urged MMA's Maulana Fazlur Rehman to step down as opposition leader so that election could be held to the post. The meeting was held at the residence of Mian Misbahur Rehman and its participants included Jehangir Badar, Qasim Zia, Naveed Chaudhry, Nawabzada Mansoor Khan, SaifullahSaif, Qazi Abdul Qadeer Khamosh, MunirAhmed Khan, Munir Gilani and Pir Naubehar Shah.