One source told FMT that the inner circle of the party leadership had made the move to push for the Perikatan Nasional leadership to name him as the interim prime minister.

“This discussion is ongoing and has apparently been agreed to by the majority of the Cabinet members,” he said.

It is learnt that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was advised on Thursday against stepping down by his Cabinet colleagues but it is not known if he has changed his mind.

“But now there is a stronger build-up for Ismail to lead the pack as the interim prime minister,” he added.

Earlier, there was speculation that opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim had been granted an audience to meet the Yang di-Pertuan Agong today but this was denied by the Palace.

On Thursday, the Palace had issued a statement stating that the government had not sought consent from the King to revoke the emergency ordinances.

This came after de facto law minister Takiyuddin Hassan stunned the Dewan Rakyat on Monday by stating that the ordinances had been revoked on July 21.

Ismail, an Umno MP, was appointed as DPM earlier this month.