The Victorian Liberal Party is expected to move to disendorse Moira Deeming as a candidate for the November state election when its State Executive meets at 5.30 pm on Friday.
The meeting was called after Mrs Deeming abandoned legal action that had restrained the party from meeting to determine her political future.
The Supreme Court of Victoria announced on Thursday that Mrs Deeming had discontinued proceedings she initiated two weeks ago to prevent the Liberal Party’s State Executive from meeting to rescind her candidacy.
Mrs Deeming, who represents Western Metropolitan Region in Victoria’s upper house, had sought an injunction after the party moved to consider dumping her as its endorsed candidate following her complaint against former Liberal leader Matthew Guy.
The party called the Friday meeting after Mrs Deeming refused to apologise for alleging Mr Guy had placed her in a “headlock” at a Macedonian community function on May 23.
Mrs Deeming made a complaint to Opposition Leader Jess Wilson’s office and also provided a statement to Victoria Police.
Victoria Police decided not to charge Mr Guy after reviewing CCTV footage of the incident. The footage, published by The Australia Today, showed Mr Guy momentarily placing a hand on Mrs Deeming’s shoulder while the pair were seated and speaking during a noisy public function.
Police confirmed their decision not to charge Mr Guy in a letter sent to Mrs Deeming’s lawyer, Tim Houweling, earlier this week.
Mrs Deeming later withdrew the allegation that Mr Guy had put her in a headlock, but has maintained she was “grabbed, held and pulled down with force” in a way that caused pain and distress.
Mr Guy has denied wrongdoing. He and Ms Wilson have called for Mrs Deeming to apologise.
Mrs Deeming has refused to apologise, saying she made the complaint in good faith and would not apologise for something she had not done.
In a statement posted online on Wednesday night, Mrs Deeming said her injunction had achieved its intended purpose by giving her time to recover, review the facts and prepare her response.
“Having been overseas and unwell when the story broke and jetlagged and unwell when the disendorsement meeting was called, the injunction gave me time to recover, review all the facts, learn the difference between a headlock and a collar-tie grip, and gather my thoughts,” she said.
“Now that I have provided the State Executive with my statement and a mediation proposal, I have withdrawn the injunction.”
Mrs Deeming said she had respected party confidentiality, followed internal processes and obeyed the law rather than running the matter through the media.
“The State Executive, having all the evidence before them, can now decide whether to pursue mediation or reconvene to disendorse me,” she said.
“For my part, I will continue doing my work serving Victorians and fighting Labor.”
A senior Liberal source told The Australia Today the State Executive would meet at 5.30 pm on Friday to consider Mrs Deeming’s candidacy. Party rules require a three-quarters majority to disendorse a candidate, but the source said Mrs Deeming had exhausted the support she previously held on the party’s governing board.
Mrs Deeming was preselected three months ago as the Liberal Party’s number one candidate for the Western Metropolitan Region. That process was marred by controversy.
While that episode helped extend Mrs Deeming’s political career, her latest dispute with Mr Guy appears to have left her isolated inside the party.
The stoush has again exposed deep divisions within the Victorian Liberals, less than four months before the state election.
Brian Loughnane, the Liberal Party’s state president and chair of the State Executive, was the first-named respondent in Mrs Deeming’s legal action against the party until she discontinued the case.
The immediate question now is whether the State Executive accepts Mrs Deeming’s mediation proposal or proceeds with the expected vote to remove her as the Liberal candidate.
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