[2] However, the Home Ministry gave them the green light in June 2008, shortly after PSM enjoyed its electoral breakthrough when it won its first parliamentary and state seats in Sungai Siput and Kota Damansara respectively.

After years of discussion and consolidations, it was finally agreed that a party with socialist ideology was needed to liberate the masses from their current conditions.

Former PSRM central committee member and ex-ISA detainee Mohd Nasir Hashim was named pro-tem party chairman during this time.

[citation needed] The Federal Government then rejected the application to register as a political party alleging that PSM was a threat to national security.

Although the Court of Appeal dismissed the national security argument on 16 August 2006, it upheld a separate reason to deny the registration of the PSM as a political party.

However, on 17 June 2008, the Home Ministry approved PSM's application as a political party just before Federal Court proceedings started, ending a 10-year tussle.

Candidate Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj won PSM's first ever federal parliamentary seat by defeating then president of Malaysian Indian Congress and long-serving Minister of Works Samy Vellu in Sungai Siput.

At the same time, PSM president Mohd Nasir Hashim won the Kota Damansara seat in the Selangor state legislative assembly.

[11] Due in part to the decision to contest independently of the Pakatan Harapan coalition, PSM suffered a heavy defeat with all candidates, including Dr Jeyakumar, losing their deposits.

The elections were held in Selangor, Kelantan, Terengganu, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah and Penang on 12 August 2023, and the PSM/MUDA alliance attempted to position itself as the "third choice" for voters "who are unhappy and bored with the politicians now and want to protest.