Main opposition party officials will pick the party’s new leader and members of its supreme council on Sunday.

Reps. Moon Jae-in, Park Jie-won and Lee In-young are contesting the chairmanship of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy. The winner will serve a two-year term and oversee the party during next year’s parliamentary elections.

Analysts have picked former presidential candidate Moon to win the election. But vote count rules that critics have called overly complicated appear to give Moon’s competitors a fighting chance.

On Sunday, 15,000 senior NPAD officials will vote. Sunday’s votes will account for 45 percent of the final count. An automated phone survey conducted from Feb. 4 to 6 on 25,300 junior NPAD officials will take up 30 percent of the results. Public polls will account for 25 percent.

Results of the public polls and the phone survey will not be disclosed until Sunday’s vote is tallied.

The weeks leading up to Sunday’s convention have been marred by fighting among the three candidates. Most debates have focused on political wrangling as opposed to those centering on policy alternatives to President Park Geun-hye’s embattled tax policies and pension reforms.

Eight candidates will compete for the five spots on the party’s supreme council. Former floor leader Rep. Jun Byung-hun, Rep. Jung Cheong-rae, and Rhee Mok-hee are among those running.

By Jeong Hunny ()


koreaherald@heraldcorp.com