Calls for a “big tent” strategy to unify conservative and moderate candidates in solidarity against liberal front-runner Lee Jae-myung are gaining traction within the People Power Party(PPP) ahead of the June 3 presidential election.

Such sentiment is growing within the conservative party as Lee from the Democratic Party(DP) tops opinion polls in the run-up to the snap election, called after former President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached and removed from office.

At a party meeting Tuesday, PPP floor leader Kweon Seong-dong called on members to join forces, despite differences within the party, to defeat Lee and his supporters, who he said would only push the nation into political strife and division.

A key party official told reporters that the conservative side will only be able to win if it adopts a big tent election strategy, tolerating everyone who opposes Lee and the DP.

Former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo told a local radio show host that the minor Reform Party, as well as anti-Lee forces within the DP, should also join the conservative side to prevent an election victory for Lee.

Former Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo said the party primary should precede any such considerations, while former PPP chief Han Dong-hoon said he does not support any form of solidarity that might overshadow the primary.