The meeting is believed to have lasted an hour, after which Ismail’s official vehicle was seen leaving Seri Perdana for an unknown destination.

Meanwhile, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and former prime minister Najib Razak arrived at the party’s headquarters at World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur earlier.

FMT has been made to understand that among Umno leaders present at the meeting with Ismail were deputy president Mohamad Hasan, vice-president Khaled Nordin and Barisan Nasional secretary-general Zambry Abd Kadir.

A vehicle belonging to Umno vice-president Mahdzir Khalid was also spotted entering Seri Perdana earlier this evening.

Others said to have attended were Saarani Mohamad, Ab Rauf Yusoh, and Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub, the Perak, Melaka and Kelantan state Umno chairmen respectively.

Earlier today, Umno headquarters at Menara Dato Onn was the centre of media attention after word spread that Zahid and Mohamad wanted to meet division heads for an urgent meeting regarding “a very important issue for the party’s future”.

Sungai Besar Umno chief Jamal Yunos later said some 158 Umno division leaders were calling for the general election to be held immediately. Umno has a total of 191 divisions.

Zahid was expected to relay the division chiefs’ demand to Ismail at the next Supreme Council meeting. Ismail is one of three Umno vice-presidents and also head of the Bera division.

The next general election must be held by September next year. However, Ismail has been under pressure to call elections as early as October or November.