Rival political parties continued to clash over preferential treatment allegations surrounding the ruling Democratic Party’s(DP) leading presidential contender, Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung.

The opposition is seeking an independent counsel and parliamentary probe into the suspicions of favoritism, leaked classified information and power abuse surrounding the Daejang-dong development project pursued by Seongnam City while Lee was mayor in 2015.

DP floor leader Yun Ho-jung on Friday criticized the main opposition People Power Party(PPP), saying that former and incumbent PPP representatives were also involved.

Yun also accused the PPP of attempting to water down election meddling allegations against its leading contender Yoon Seok-youl from when he served as prosecutor-general last year.

PPP floor leader Kim Gi-hyeon, for his part, asked the ruling party why it has yet to agree to the special counsel and parliamentary investigations, if it believes that the opposition is implicated in the scandal.

Calling it a package of corruption, favoritism, privilege and foul play, Kim urged the Gyeonggi governor to issue a public apology and put forth a plan to return all profits illegally acquired by those involved in the project.