David Williams BBC Wales political editor

As expected two names emerged for the post.

They are policy director Cynog Dafis, who stood down as an Assembly Member in May, and language campaigner and folk singer Dafydd Iwan.

The two party grandees now go head to head in a contest - one member, one vote - for what must surely be one of the most unenviable jobs in Welsh politics - reuniting and reinvigorating a party in disarray.

In the weeks since Plaid's poor performance in the assembly election much has happened.

You couldn't make it up.

Within a week of the election result the party president and leader, Ieuan Wyn Jones, stood down after being told that he had lost the support of half his depleted group in the assembly.

There was much talk of a plot hatched in a Cardiff curry house to oust Ieuan Wyn Jones.

Cynog Dafis said he can re-unite and inspire the party

This, it was said, was led by Helen Mary Jones, who lost her Llanelli seat by 21 votes, but returned to the assembly on the regional list.

She dismissed reports that she had orchestrated a move to get rid of her boss, but she was quick to put her name forward for the vacant position of group leader.

All this has led to party blood letting and vitriol on an unprecedented scale.

Many names emerged for the post of president and then just as quickly disappeared again.

At one time it looked as though the party's Westminster leader Elfyn Llwyd MP would be a candidate, but it was not to be.

Ceredigion's MP Simon Thomas was pressed hard but refused to put his name forward.

Then, this week, Adam Price, the MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, explained how he had agonised about putting his name forward, but had decided that was of more use working for the party at grass roots level.

Split

So, what we have is a party which has decided to split the two posts - president and group leader - once held by Ieuan Wyn Jones.

This opens up another contest, that for group leader in the assembly.

The party announced today that nominations for that post would open and close within the next month.

It means that the two contests will run parallel over the summer, the winners being announced on September 15 in the Norwegian Church in Cardiff, just three days ahead of the party's autumn conference.

Dafydd Iwan has been singing since the 1960s

And now comes another intriguing twist to the story:

On Monday, after sounding out supporters over the weekend, Ieuan Wyn Jones is almost certain to announce that he's planning a come back.

He will put his name forward to lead the assembly group, the very group which split so dramatically over his leadership just two months ago.

The difference this time is that it will be left to the membership to decide who they want to lead the party in the assembly.

The choice now is between the former leader; the woman who stands accused of wielding the knife to get rid of him, and the deputy group leader, Rhodri Glyn Thomas.

It's a heady brew which has been concocted here and it's much more potent than anything served up in a curry house.

Whoever emerges as winners in this pot purri of a competition, they have an enormous job on their hands - nothing less than re-establishing Plaid Cymru as a credible main stream political force in Wales.

It looks like being a long hot summer for Plaid, in and out of any curry houses!