The Reverend Ian Paisley said today that he was confident that his successor, Peter Robinson, would be nominated as First Minister tomorrow.
Mr Paisley said that any move to disrupt the handover of political power in Northern Ireland could see a return to the bad old days before devolved government.
Any refusal by Sinn Féin to co-operate with the outgoing First Minister’s Democratic Unionist Party would be an "evil action", he added.
Sinn Féin has blamed the failure to make progress on devolving powers over policing and justice to a Northern Ireland minister for the impasse.
Mr Paisley said: “I think it would be an evil thing if anyone at this time, so late in the day, would now say no, we are stopping it.”
Fresh elections could be triggered if Sinn Féin refuses to re-nominate Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness tomorrow.
The party accuses the DUP of reneging on the 2006 St Andrews Agreement.
Mr Paisley, who handed over leadership of the DUP to Mr Robinson on Saturday, was speaking as he opened a new ferry port in Belfast with Mr McGuinness and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond.
Mr McGuinness said he hoped the outstanding issues could be resolved before tomorrow.
He said nobody in Sinn Féin was threatening anything.
“What we are dealing with is the need for all sides in this equation to recognise, 18 months on from the St Andrews Agreement, the absolute urgency required to see that agreement fulfilled,” he said.
“Discussions are continuing as we speak. We will continue for as long as it is necessary to see the situation in a fashion that will convince people that there is an urgent desire to have the St Andrews Agreement fulfilled.”
He said his year-long partnership with Mr Paisley since power-sharing was restored in May had laid the ground for stable government and had changed the course of history for the better.