Dissident unionists have signalled they may spring a surprise tactical shift in their latest policy tilt against Mr David Trimble at Saturday's emergency meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council.
And the possibility emerged last night that, instead of the simple demand that the UUP quit the power-sharing Executive, the 850 UUC delegates might be asked to unite around a new policy which would scrap the Executive, strip the Assembly of its legislative functions, and reduce its status to something akin to the Welsh Assembly.
Leading opponents of the Belfast Agreement refused to reveal their hand, confirming an intention to keep the terms of their motion under wraps until the delegates convene on Saturday morning.
However, that public silence was fuelling speculation about continuing behind the scenes efforts to construct an alternative policy capable of spanning the now traditional pro and anti-agreement divide within the UUP. As the hardline MP, Mr Jeffrey Donaldson, was sending the delegates a detailed critique of alleged paramilitary breaches of ceasefires, sources previously considered firmly inside the pro-agreement camp told The Irish Times that Saturday's meeting represented "the most critical moment" for Mr Trimble's leadership.
In a much-heralded concession to Mr Trimble, the Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr Reid, yesterday defied IRA opposition and confirmed his intention to appoint an independent ceasefire monitor within weeks. Dr Reid's announcement followed Downing Street talks at which the Sinn Féin president, Mr Gerry Adams, warned the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, that his government was in danger of losing its "strategic vision" for peace in Northern Ireland.
However, influential pro and anti-agreement unionists appeared to have already discounted the British move as they continued the search for a policy around which they might unite in a serious effort to avert electoral defeat at the hands of the DUP in next year's Assembly election.
Until now the assumption has been that the UUP dissidents would propose a series of new conditions - covering IRA decommissioning and disbandment, and the issue of an alternative "exclusion mechanism" bypassing the need for a cross-community vote in the Assembly - pointing to a phased political crisis and the party's withdrawal from the Executive by the end of the year.
But in a possibly significant intervention yesterday, the former UUP leader Lord Molyneaux, suggested there might be "a second alternative" for the "greater number" in Northern Ireland he claimed were "despairing" at the failure of the agreement to deliver on its promises.
"Disaster can be arrested only by dealing with the deep flaws, now understood by all, in the current arrangements," he said, "and by transforming them into a sensible, workable devolved structure such as that which is working so well in Wales, as it does in our own [Northern Ireland] democratic local authorities."
Lord Molyneaux's plan is not new, and bears a close similarity to a proposal by Mr John Taylor (now Lord Kilclooney) during an earlier impasse over decommissioning. Although he is closely aligned with Mr Donaldson, there was no indication last night as to whether this was a solo operation or an early indication of an emerging alternative policy by which disparate UUP groupings might think to avoid the blame for collapsing the entire political process in Northern Ireland, while taking punitive measures against Sinn Féin over the IRA's alleged failure to complete the transition from terrorism to democracy.
Mr Adams described as "positive" his 80-minute meeting with Mr Blair.