The new main opposition Democratic Unified Party geared up for its national convention slated for next month, as its candidates for chairperson kicked off their electoral campaigns on Wednesday.

The nine candidates who passed the preliminary race on Monday attended an initial joint speech on Jeju Island Tuesday afternoon. They are also to appear in televised debates over the coming weeks, according to officials.

The list of candidates includes former Democratic Party floor leader Park Jie-won, former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook and civic group-based Moon Sung-keun.

Reps. Park Young-sun, Kim Boo-kyum and Lee Kang-rae from the former DP also joined the race, along with Park Yong-jin, Lee In-young and Lee Hak-young.

Among them, a six-member decision-making body is to be elected, with the top ranking member taking the party’s chairmanship.

The upcoming in-party race is expected to be intense as the new council is to lead the consolidated left-wing party through next year’s general and presidential elections.

Also, eyes are drawn to whether the party’s leadership will be seized by a former DP member, such as Rep. Park, or a civic group figure, such as Han or Moon.

The chairperson election on Jan. 15 will take place in the form of a combined vote of party delegates and citizens, as agreed upon by the former DP and the Citizen Integration Party for their inter-party merger.

“We will make sure that the people accept the results of our leadership election, and for this we urge citizens to actively participate in the voting,” said a spokesperson of the party.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)