By Lee Tae-hoon

After a lull, political heavyweights of the ruling Saenuri Party have begun to express their ambitions to lead the conservative party as the clock ticks down toward the May 4 candidate registration deadline.

The Saenuri Party, which clinched 152 seats in the 300-member unicameral National Assembly in the April 11 elections, will hold a National Convention on May 15 to select the newly-named party’s first official chairperson and five decision-making Supreme Council members.

Rep. Shim Jae-chul, an English teacher-turned legislator, was the first to throw his hat into the ring, heralding stiff competition for the ruling party’s leadership race.

The four-term lawmaker stressed that he will promote the unity and harmony of the party by tackling escalating factionalism.

“Birds fly with two wings,” the lawmaker told reporters Wednesday, implying that figures loyal to the party’s interim leader Park Geun-hye exert excessive influence in the party’s decision making.

Like many of the figures who enjoyed their heyday for their loyalty to a pro-Lee Myung-bak faction, Shim, once considered a mainstreamer of the party, has been pushed aside for his uneasy relationship with the Park faction.

Rep. Yoo Ki-june, a three-term lawmaker with a postgraduate degree from New York University Law School, also declared his bid for the party’s top post.

“Despite a victory in the general elections, the Saenuri Party is facing a crisis in achieving the goal of winning the presidential election,” the pro-Park lawmaker said. “I will lead genuine reform and changes for the party’s victory in the presidential poll.”

Party insiders say Rep. Nam Kyung-pil, who was widely speculated to run in the leadership contest, has decided to run in the floor leader contest, which will be held on May 9.

They say Rep. Hwang Woo-yea, the current floor leader, will declare his candidacy for party chairman as early as today.

Political pundits say that Hwang has a good chance of winning as he has demonstrated good leadership as floor leader and has gained the trust of followers of the pro-Park faction.

They claim that Jeong Woo-taek, who served as governor of North Chungcheong Province, and Rep. Yoo Jeong-bok, one of the closest aides to Park, will likely soon declare their candidacy, too.

Other potential candidates include Rep. Hong Sa-duk, a six-term lawmaker who suffered defeat in the April Assembly polls, and Rep. Kim Moo-sung, a four-term legislator who failed to be nominated by the party for the parliamentary elections.