The ruling Saenuri Party plans to hold a national convention in mid-May to elect a new floor leader, a party official said Sunday.

“The national convention will be held on May 16 to choose a new floor leader if the National Assembly passes the government supplementary budget to boost the economy this week,” said the official, requesting anonymity.

The new choice would replace Rep. Lee Hahn-koo, a four-term lawmaker who has been in the post since 2012.

The governing party’s vote is widely seen as a two-way race between Rep. Choi Kyoung-hwan, a three-term lawmaker and close confidant to President Park Geun-hye, and Rep. Lee Ju-young, a four-term lawmaker.

Choi, 58, argues that the president should moderate the pace of “economic democratization” in light of economic conditions, while Lee, 62, maintains the policy should be carried out as promised in the general and presidential elections.

Economic democratization is a key campaign pledge of President Park Geun-hye, who promised to ease excessive concentration of wealth among a few large conglomerates by tackling their unfair business practices.

Meanwhile, the main opposition Democratic Party is scheduled to select a new floor leader at a national convention on May 15.

On Saturday, Rep. Kim Han-gil, a four-term lawmaker, was elected as the new chief of the DP, which was previously known as the Democratic United Party, at the leadership election. Kim, 60, is a major non-mainstream lawmaker in the DP, which was led by loyalists of former late President Roh Moo-hyun. (Yonhap News)