“It is not possible for me to call the prime minister or for him to call me.

“I have also never contacted the president (Ahmad Zahid Hamidi) and (Melaka Umno chief) Rauf (Ab Rauf Yusoh) or received a call from them,” he said, according to a report by Utusan Malaysia.

According to the report, the voice in the recording said to be that of Idris was praised by various parties, including Umno leaders following the withdrawal of support for Melaka chief minister Sulaiman Md Ali.

The man in the audio clip also claimed that Idris had obtained sufficient support from the state assemblymen, including those from DAP, to form a new government.

However, another voice in the recording who sounded similar to Ismail asked for the movement to withdraw support for Sulaiman to be stopped, so that his “credibility as prime minister” would not be questioned.

Idris, along with three assemblymen – one from Umno, one from Bersatu and one independent – had withdrawn support for the state government led by Sulaiman.

The three assemblymen are Nor Azman Hassan (Umno-Pantai Kundor), Noor Effandi Ahmad (Bersatu-Telok Mas) and Norhizam Hassan Baktee (Ind-Pengkalan Batu).

The state assembly has since been dissolved.