Yoon loyalist Kim pulls ahead in PPP leadership race

Politics

Published: 05 Mar. 2023, 17:44

Yoon loyalist Kim pulls ahead in PPP leadership race

From left: People Power Party leadership candidates Hwang Kyo-ahn, Kim Gi-hyeon, Ahn Cheol-soo and Chun Ha-ram hold hands for a commemorative photo marking their televised debate at Channel A's studio in Mapo District, western Seoul on Friday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon has emerged as the frontrunner in the race to elect the conservative People Power Party’s (PPP) new leader after record turnout on the first day of voting Saturday.

The next PPP chairman is expected to lead the party through next year’s parliamentary elections, where the PPP will seek to gain a majority in the National Assembly, currently dominated by the rival Democratic Party, to empower President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Party officials said Saturday that voting turnout was 34.72 percent, an all-time high for a conservative party.

Kim, who is believed to be the president’s preferred choice for party leader, is currently leading the race with more than 40 percent support, trailed by Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, lawyer Chun Ha-ram and former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, according to recent opinion polls.

A runoff vote will take place if none of the four wins an outright majority in the first round of voting.

Voting in the PPP leadership race is only open to the party’s approximately 840,000 due-paying members.

Public opinion polls will not factor into the leadership selection process as a result of changes to party rules decided by the PPP’s emergency steering committee at the end of last year.

Ballots can be cast by landline and mobile phones over the next four days.

The PPP plans to name the winner at a national convention scheduled for Wednesday, but the announcement will be delayed until March 12 in the event of a run-off vote.

The race is not only being watched for hints about who will lead the party through the next parliamentary elections, but also how closely the next leader will be aligned to the Yoon administration.

In a survey of 485 PPP supporters conducted by pollster Gongjung on Feb. 27 and 28, Kim recorded 45.9 percent support, followed by Ahn at 23 percent, Chun at 12.7 percent and Hwang at 10.6 percent.

A different survey of 458 PPP supporters conducted by Research View in the same time frame also showed Kim leading the race with 47 percent support, followed by Ahn with 23 percent, and Chun and Hwang with 12 percent and 11 percent respectively.

Both polls had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points and a 95 percent confidence level.

Kim has emphasized his close ties with President Yoon in his campaign.

“I will firmly unite the People Power Party and win an overwhelming victory in next year’s parliamentary elections,” Kim said in his speech during the candidates’ joint address to party members on Thursday. “The party leader should communicate and empathize well with the president.”

In a veiled warning about Ahn, Kim said that the party would not be able lead policymaking to tackle the country’s economic challenges “if someone who damages the party by sowing internal discord and division emerges at the forefront again.”

Tensions between Ahn and Yoon have surfaced in recent weeks, with the candidate accusing the president of weighing in on the leadership race.

Ahn, who has positioned himself as a supporter of the president — but not a loyalist — reminded party members during his speech Thursday that Kim faces “new doubts every morning,” referring to allegations raised by Hwang that Kim used his political influence to get a high-speed rail route to pass through a tract of land he owns in Ulsan and profited after the land’s price rose.

Kim, who represents a parliamentary constituency in the southeastern city, has denied the allegations and asked police to launch a probe into the allegations.

Chun, who serves as head of a regional PPP chapter, is considered an ally of ousted PPP leader Lee Jun-seok and has pledged to renew the party.

Hwang, who served as prime minister under former President Park Geun-hye, and later as acting president after her impeachment and eventual removal from office, has appealed to the party’s traditional base of older conservative members.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]