Cope's leadership was elected by consensus, instead of elections, which led to questions of legitimacy, the party's general-secretary Charlotte Lobe said in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

Explaining why there were perceptions of leadership squabbles in the party, Lobe said the party's leaders were elected by consensus because it had no structures in place to hold proper elections at its inception in 2008.

The party's upcoming elective conference would lend legitimacy to the new leadership as the correct processes would be followed.

"Conference is not a panacea to all challenges, but I believe on the issue of legitimacy of leadership... it will resolve such a challenge," she told Sapa after a press briefing at the party headquarters.

Cope's second deputy president Lynda Odendaal and head of elections Simon Grindrod resigned last year, with both citing leadership struggles as a reason the fledgling party was floundering.

Odendaal had accused deputy president Mbhazima Shilowa of manipulation. Grindrod said the party was racked by "divisions and undemocratic principles", due to a leadership tussle between Shilowa and president Terror Lekota.

Shilowa on Wednesday said the party would decide on a date for its elective conference during a "strategic planning session" in February, during which it would also assess progress made in its year in existence and examine problems it faced.

Lobe and Shilowa addressed the media after a meeting of the party's leadership on Monday. Lekota was travelling to Europe on party business and could therefore not attend the briefing.

Quizzed on whether the pair would accept nominations to hold office in the party, Shilowa said discussion on positions "diverts attention" from the work the party needed to do.

"We have taken a view that none of the leadership should engage in a discussion on position," he said.

The party would also hold a policy indaba in the first half of the year as a precursor to its elective conference.

"While the election of leadership is important, of utmost priority is developing policies that continue to capture the imagination of our people," Lobe said.

The planning session would thrash out preparations for Cope's participation in the 2011 local government elections.

The newly-formed party stood in the 2009 national elections months after its inception, winning 30 seats in Parliament. It has since been plagued by reports of internal division, leadership squabbles and tribalism.

"We knew that building a new organisation is going to be a hard slog. It was not going to be possible in a short period of time to build a solid organisation," Shilowa said.

He said the party's financial woes were not insurmountable.

"... We have a team to work on finance. It's something we will be able to overcome," he said.

On the party's lacklustre performance in Parliament, Shilowa said it had taken a while to get the organisation up and running in the legislature.

When Parliament opened next month "everything would be in place" for the party to carry out its duties.

A report from the party's youth movement on the disarray in Cope had not yet been finalised and was not presented to the party's national leadership, he said. It reportedly contained calls for the removal of those running the organisation.

The Star reported that in it the youth movement criticised the leadership for the party's "non-existent" head office; the lack of regular campaigns; the lack of clear policy positions and the party's "dismal" performance in by-elections.

Shilowa said the document was still being discussed by youth structures, and had yet to be finalised.