The leadership race of the ruling Saenuri Party is heating up. On Sunday, two candidates threw their hats into the ring, boosting the number of candidates who have said they will run for the Aug. 9 election to five. The candidate list could still be extended before it is finalized around the end of this month.

The leadership contest offers the party an opportunity to take significant strides toward reform based on an accurate and thorough analysis of its humiliating defeat in the April general election.

If the party picks a new leader who is capable of implementing sweeping reforms, it would be able to regain the public’s trust and revive hope of winning the presidential election in December 2017.

However if the party elects a leader who puts factional interests before reform, it would stand little chance of winning the election.

Of the two scenarios, the latter is more likely to become reality, as the party’s mainstream faction loyal to President Park Geun-hye is keen to maintain its grip on power.

Following the April election, the faction’s unity has shown signs of weakening, as indicated by the apparent lack of coordination among the three faction members who have declared their participation in the leadership contest.

Yet the faction’s key members are moving to field a unified candidate to prevent a nonmainstream candidate from emerging as the winner.

They are pressuring Rep. Suh Chung-won, an eight-term lawmaker, to run in the election as the faction’s standard-bearer. Suh had at first no intention of jumping into the fray, but he is now seriously thinking about making a bid for the leadership position.

If Suh decides to run for the party chairmanship, the leadership race would shape up as a contest between the mainstream faction and nonmainstreamers.

If the election is framed in this way, the mainstream faction is likely to win as it enjoys the numerical advantage among participants in the party caucus.

Suh’s election as new party leader, however, would dim the party’s prospects for the presidential election, as he is unlikely to push for bold reforms that can live up to public expectations.

The pro-Park faction should not roil the leadership contest with its narrow-minded pursuit of party control. It should see the bigger picture and refrain from taking action that would only further alienate the party’s supporters.