With mere days left to the official election campaign period, mainstream parties are poised to elect this week the interim leadership tasked with spearheading the race leading to the April 13 parliamentary polls.
The ruling Saenuri Party and The Minjoo Party of Korea, both of which have been marred by factional strife over the candidate nominations, scrambled to win sufficient parliamentary seats and seize political momentum until the 2017 presidential race.
The Saenuri Party announced Monday a collective leadership that includes factional big shots and a former cabinet member. Its leader Rep. Kim Moo-sung, whip Rep. Won Yoo-chul, Reps. Rhee In-jae and Seo Cheong-won and former finance minister Kang Bong-kyun would serve as cochairmen.
Faced with public pushback from the now-infamous clashes between the faction close to President Park Geun-hye and dissenters led by party leader Kim, the party renewed its pledge to recover its parliamentary majority. With the recent chain defections, the Saenuri currently holds 146 out of the 292 seats.
