Federal Labor MPs could meet as early as today to settle the party’s leadership once and for all.
A senior Kevin Rudd backer has told ABC Radio “a showdown is inevitable”.
But a defiant Julia Gillard reportedly has said she will deny MPs a secret vote to spill the leadership.
Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce has poured scorn on the latest developments.
“It’s like watching a cat play with a ball of string,” he told ABC Radio of the Labor leadership wrangle.
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Rudd is under pressure from his caucus supporters to make a move on the prime minister in the dying days of the current parliament.
The parliament is due to rise for the last time on Friday, ahead of the September 14 election.
Caucus held its last scheduled meeting on Tuesday, but without Rudd.
It will take a petition, signed by at least 30 MPs, to call a special caucus meeting.
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A spill motion would have to be voted on separately and be supported by a majority in the party room.
The Daily Telegraph says Gillard will seek a “show-of-hands” ballot, flushing out backers of Rudd to openly declare their position.
The West Australian newspaper says it understands key Rudd backers Kim Carr, Mark Furner and Alan Griffin began sounding out Labor colleagues on Tuesday night – using a “the king is back” pitch – with a view to collecting the names of at least 55 MPs wanting a Rudd return.
They plan to present the former prime minister with a list of supporters, with a view to convincing him to challenge Gillard before parliament rises.
The Seven Network says independent MP Tony Windsor has told Gillard he will not support Rudd’s return as prime minister.
In the event Rudd became prime minister, Windsor said he would support a no-confidence motion against the government, Seven reported.
Cabinet minister Craig Emerson, a key Gillard backer, says any talk of a “show-of-hands” vote to declare the Labor leadership vacant was “completely hypothetical”.
He told Sky News “it never happened before and never would again”.
In any case Gillard would not require it, because Rudd had indicated there were no circumstances under which he would return as leader.
Asked whether a petition for a special caucus meeting was being circulated amongst Labor MPs, Emerson told Sky News: “I have no sense of that at all.”
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