Voter turnout for PPP leadership race hits 50 pct

Turnout in the ruing People Power Party’s ongoing vote to elect a new leader has exceeded 50 percent Monday, officials said.

Some 50.5 percent of 837,237 paying party members have cast their ballots for four final candidates through mobile and phone voting as of Monday 1 p.m., according to party officials.

The PPP plans to announce the winner in a national convention Wednesday. But in the event of a runoff vote, the party will announce the new leader on March 12.

The vote has grabbed attention as the winner will be tasked with heading the party through next year’s general elections to secure a majority in the parliament now controlled by the main opposition Democratic Party.

Among the four candidates, Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, widely considered President Yoon Suk Yeol’s favorite, is leading the race, trailed by Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn and lawyer Chun Ha-ram, according to recent opinion polls.

A poll of 378 PPP supporters conducted by Embrain Public on Friday and Saturday last week showed that Kim was ahead of others at 35.8 percent followed by Ahn with 25.5 percent, Hwang with 9.6 percent and Chun with 8.1 percent.

In a hypothetical two-way race between the top two contenders, 52.6 percent of the respondents picked Kim over 37.4 percent who chose Ahn.

The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 5.04 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.