The Malaysia Makkal Sakthi Party (MMSP) plans to hold elections by the end of October to resolve its leadership tussle once and for all.

Party secretary-general Kannan Ramasamy said elections were necessary to defuse the crisis and prevent the party from losing the support of the people.

"Elections can actually solve the whole issue. I believe whoever wins or loses will emerge with dignity.

"There shouldn't be any embarrassment if they fail because they have fulfilled their obligations to the party according to the constitution and upheld the principles of democracy," he told.

The party has been rocked by internal conflict since the end of last year, with one faction, aligned to president RS Thanenthiran, and another, aligned to deputy president A Vathemurthy, expelling the opposing faction's leaders and taking their woes to the Registrar of Societies (ROS).

MMSP was launched by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak on Oct 10 and is seen as a catalyst to win back declining grassroots

Indian support for the BN.

Kannan claimed that the decision to hold party elections was agreed to by 18 of the 26 central committee members at a meeting on July 11. The 18 also endorsed a call for unity talks between the two rival factions, he said.

"Members want peace for the sake of party unity and are keen to see the factions sit down for talks.

"The unity talks are very important for the benefit of the party and Malaysian Indians.

"As the party secretary-general, I've been appointed by the central committee members to get both sides to the table," he said, adding that he would announce some good news in a month's time on the development towards the unity talks.

Kannan said many Indians had agreed to join the party only if it had credible leaders who could chart plans to strengthen it.

The party now had about 20,000 members, he said.

- Bernama