Embattled Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming has made a private plea to colleagues as she fights to remain a party candidate at the November state election, saying she “deeply” regrets the impact of her legal action and wants to mediate the dispute “out of existence”.

Mrs Deeming is facing possible disendorsement as the Liberal Party’s lead upper house candidate for Western Metropolitan Region after refusing to apologise to former opposition leader Matthew Guy over an assault allegation she made against him.

Victoria Police closed a brief investigation after reviewing footage of the incident and said no offence could be detected.

The dispute escalated this week when Mrs Deeming launched Supreme Court action to stop the Liberal Party from moving to disendorse her, naming the party and Liberal Party president Brian Loughnane as defendants.

But after the matter was heard for the first time on Friday, Mrs Deeming sent text messages to several Liberal colleagues expressing regret and urging internal resolution.

“Please allow me to tell you how keenly aware I am of the fact this must be negatively impacting you, and I deeply grieve it and regret it,” Mrs Deeming said.

“I am doing my best to fix it.

“It may not appear so to you right now, but my actions today were designed to secure the reprieve needed to avoid a slip into self-destruction, and mediate this out of existence for all our sakes.

“I am continuing to reach out and seek internal settlement with all involved, even tonight.

“I’m not above helping the party save face- but it is not true that I made a deliberate or reckless false allegation, and it is not true that I caused anyone to be defamed.”

The Liberal Party had been expected to hold a state executive meeting on Friday evening to decide whether Mrs Deeming should remain a candidate.

However, the party undertook not to take action that would lead to her disendorsement while the court matter continues.

The dispute is due to return to court on July 17.

Mrs Deeming told colleagues she was “very unwell” and said she had tried to keep the accusations confidential.

She also said she only went to police after being instructed by the party.

“That is our official policy so nobody did wrong by instructing me to do so,” she said.

“I believe what we need are formal, objective and fair internal processes because our relationships are so strained, it’s a strange environment and it’s the only clear way forward.”

The plea has divided senior Liberals, with some arguing the party must proceed with removing Mrs Deeming from the ticket and others warning the latest internal fight could derail the Coalition’s election campaign.

“We cannot blink. She needs to go,” one senior Liberal said.

Some inside the party fear the controversy will reinforce perceptions that the Victorian Liberals remain consumed by internal feuds and are not ready to govern.

Others believe cutting Mrs Deeming loose would bring an end to a messy chapter in the party’s recent history and show the party’s leadership can take decisive action before the election.

Mrs Deeming’s position on the Western Metropolitan Region ticket is politically significant because she currently holds the top spot, a position that would normally give her a strong chance of being re-elected in November.

The latest battle follows Mrs Deeming’s allegation that Mr Guy put her in a “headlock” at a Macedonian community event in Sunshine in May.

Mr Guy has denied wrongdoing and demanded an apology.

Mrs Deeming has privately cited what she has described as a proven personal hostility toward her by Mr Guy, and his awareness of her background as a sexual assault survivor, as part of her explanation for why he should not have touched her.

Earlier this week, Mrs Deeming released a statement through her lawyer conceding she had misunderstood the meaning of the term “headlock”, but maintained she had made the complaint in good faith.

Opposition Leader Jess Wilson has backed calls for Mrs Deeming to apologise and has said the Coalition cannot afford distractions as it seeks to defeat Labor at the November election.

The Liberal Party’s state executive was not seeking to expel Mrs Deeming from the party as a rank-and-file member or remove her from the parliamentary party room, but was considering whether to revoke her candidacy.

Speculation that Mrs Deeming could leave the Liberals and join One Nation was also shut down this week after federal leader Pauline Hanson ruled out the move.

“No, don’t want her,” Senator Hanson said.

The court action has bought Mrs Deeming time, but it has not ended the political crisis.

Her future as a Liberal candidate remains unresolved, with the matter now set to continue in court later this month.

For the Victorian Liberals, the dispute threatens to again drag the party into internal warfare just months out from an election in which it is trying to convince voters it is a stable alternative to Labor.

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