Ruling party elects president's confidant as floor leader

SEOUL, May 21 (Yonhap) -- The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) elected a
longtime supporter of President Lee Myung-bak as its new floor leader Thursday in
a closely-watched race that gauged the influence of different factions in the
party.

Ahn Sang-soo won the run-off election 95 to 62 against Rep. Hwang Woo-yea, a
close confidant of Rep. Park Geun-hye. The final count showed 159 out of 170
party legislators voted with two abstentions.
The election had drawn keen attention as it was largely viewed as a showdown
between the president and the former GNP leader Park, considered a strong
candidate for the next presidential election.
Park, the eldest daughter of the late former president Park Chung-hee who took
power through a military coup, lost in her bid for the party's 2007 presidential
nomination to Lee, but still leads a large faction of party members who often
stand against Lee and his administration.
Thursday's election had started off as a three-way race that also included Rep.
Chung Eui-hwa, who was eliminated after the first round with 39 votes.
The GNP has 170 seats in the 299-seat parliament.
With Ahn's victory, his running mate Rep. Kim Seong-jo was elected the head of
the party policy committee.
A native of Masan, South Gyeongsang Province, Ahn, 62, began politics in 1995
when he was first elected to the National Assembly on the ticket of the then
ruling New Korea Party, the predecessor to the GNP.
He worked on Lee's election camp before he was elected to his fourth consecutive
term last year and currently serves on the National Assembly Foreign Affairs,
Trade and Unification Committee.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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