Tony Abbott has sought a last-ditch phone call with Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo, as the Australian government tries every available avenue to spare the lives of drug traffickers Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan on death row in Bali.

The pair, convicted for their roles in the Bali Nine drug syndicate, have spent their first night on the prison island of Nusa Kambangan, where they are expected to face the firing squad within days.

Indonesian authorities usually give prisoners on death row 72 hours’ notice of their execution, and no such notice has been received. The pair are expected to be executed alongside eight other criminals, seven foreign and one Indonesian.

“I’m seeking a final call to President Widodo. I’ve put in a request but I can’t guarantee that the request will be met,” Abbott said at a candle-lit vigil outside Parliament House on Thursday.

The Australian foreign minister, Julie Bishop, has raised the possibility of a prisoner swap to spare the two men.

Widodo reportedly told al-Jazeera reporters that Sukumaran and Chan would face execution soon, but not this week.

Bishop insisted there was still a chance, however slim, to save their lives. “There are still legal avenues open to the men, and an appeal has been sought before the state administrative court,” she said.

The foreign minister has spoken to her Indonesian counterpart, Retno Marsudi, about a possible prisoner swap, in what has been reported as a tense and heated exchange.

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“I didn’t go into any specific detail but I did note there were Australian prisoners in Jakarta and there were Indonesian prisoners in Australia and that we should explore some opportunity, a prison swap, a transfer, whether that could be done under Indonesian law,” Bishop said.

Marsudi has not rejected the offer outright, but no response has yet been received. “She undertook to raise it with the president,” Bishop said.

About 40 parliamentarians from all major parties attended the vigil in Canberra, standing united in calling on Indonesia to show mercy.

The event was organised by the parliamentarians against the death penalty group, co-convened by the Liberal stalwart Philip Ruddock and the former Labor whip Chris Hayes.

Ruddock said Chan and Sukumaran, who have been in jail in Indonesia since their arrest in 2005, were “an example to the rest of the world on what can be achieved” in the rehabilitation process.

He was buoyed by the show of support on Thursday morning, which saw about 60 members of the public turn up to denounce capital punishment.

“This is Australia at its very best. I hope all of you in tangible ways will continue to support these two young men. I hope in the long term we can bring this insidious practice around the world to an end,” Ruddock said. “Whatever happens, our determination will not be dented,” he said.

Abbott said Chan and Sukumaran “have become crime fighters”. “They are an asset to Indonesia against drug crime and when you have an asset you don’t destroy it,” he said.

The opposition spokeswoman for foreign affairs, Tanya Plibersek, warned that Australians would never accept the death penalty.

“At a time like this, one of the most difficult things to deal with is the sense of helplessness that each of us feels,” she said. “One of the reasons we’ve come together this morning is to turn that feeling that each of us has into something different. To turn it into a strong message to Myuran and Andrew that they are in our thoughts.”

Hayes said the right to life was the most basic of human rights, and that “we are asking for nothing more than the application of mercy”.

The Greens leader, Christine Milne, drew on her own personal experience to appeal for clemency. “As a mother of two sons, I find it beyond my capacity to imagine the horror that the families are feeling and what Andrew and Myuran are feeling and what they have to muster to face what they may have to face,” she said.