The turnout by ruling People Power Party(PPP) members during a two-day mobile vote to elect new leadership reached a record 47-point-51 percent over the weekend.

With the automated response system(ARS) portion of voting set to run from Monday to Tuesday, the total turnout is expected to surpass 50 percent, higher than the previous record of 45-point-36 percent from the 2021 party convention.

Some 830-thousand members with voting rights can cast ballots for one party chairman, two Supreme Council members and one Council member representing the young generation.

The ongoing race for party chairmanship is a four-way contest between Kim Gi-hyeon, Ahn Cheol-soo, Chun Ha-ram and Hwang Kyo-ahn, the outcome of which is set to be announced during the party convention on Wednesday with President Yoon Suk Yeol in attendance.

If no candidate secures a majority, there will be a runoff between the two candidates with the most votes before the new chair is confirmed by Sunday.

Meanwhile, the main opposition Democratic Party(DP) continued to contend with internal discord over last Monday’s parliamentary vote on a motion to permit the arrest of its leader, Lee Jae-myung. 

Lee has urged hardline supporters to refrain from criticizing DP lawmakers suspected of defecting in the vote, but an online party petition calling for disclosing the names of defectors has garnered almost 40-thousand signatures.