President Arif Alvi told the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Wednesday to fix a date for the new general elections, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The opposition have cried foul over the National Assembly deputy speaker’s ruling and were refusing to cooperate with forming an interim government to oversee any vote, but on Wednesday Alvi upped the ante.

A statement from his office said the election commission through a letter had been told to propose a date "in order to carry out the mandate of the Constitution".

The letter calls for fixing a date to hold elections within 90 days of dissolution of the National Assembly. Consultation under Election Act 2017 is mandatory for fixing the date and as per the Constitution President of the State will choose the date, the letter added.

Reporter Awais Kiyani