Mba Abessole, who headed the other faction, accused Kombila of "treachery and indiscipline".

Riza Khatami heads the main political faction backing the reformist president.

He heads the third-largest faction in the party and has close relations with the party's main coalition partner, the Buddhist-backed New Komeito party.

"Attempts to build a coalition against us have not worked," said Petra Sitte, who heads the formerly Communist faction in the Saxony-Anhalt state legislature.

From 1986 to 1991, Abe's father, Shintaro, headed the same faction.

A gentle, low-key figure, he has often played the role of a mediator and now heads the largest faction in the governing Liberal Democratic Party.

From 2010 Yefremov heads the parliamentary faction of the Party of Regions changing on the post Viktor Yanukovych.

Lazarenko was elected to the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) in March 1998, where he headed the parliamentary faction of his political party "Hromada".

Mr. Obuchi, 61, is the leading candidate largely because he heads the largest faction in the party and is respected for his affability.

"He heads the Blue faction."