CANBERRA, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Tanya Plibersek, Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen have emerged as the leading candidates to lead the the Opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP) after it lost the general election on Saturday.
Despite opinion polls and analysts projecting a Labor victory, the party was defeated by the incumbent Liberal-National Party Coalition (LNP) and Prime Minister Scott Morrison in one of the biggest upsets in the history of Australian politics.
Conceding defeat on Saturday night, Bill Shorten announced he was stepping down as leader of the ALP immediately.
Plibersek and Albanese, both members of the Labor left, have announced their candidacy for leadership and are considered the frontrunners while Bowen is the leading candidate from the party's right faction.
Albanese, who ran against Shorten for leadership in 2013 but was narrowly defeated, announced his candidacy, saying that he was "the best person to lead Labor back into government."
"We've lost three elections in a row. That has an impact on those Australians who rely upon us to improve their education, to look after their healthcare, to build public transport infrastructure," he said, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
Albanese served as the deputy PM when Labor was last in government in 2013 and as the party's spokesman for infrastructure under Shorten's leadership.
"What you see is what you get with me, for better or worse," he said. "I am a bit rough at the edges, but I think that Australians don't want someone who just utters talking points."
Plibersek was Shorten's deputy leader and the spokesperson for education. News Corp Australia reported on Monday that Shorten has thrown his support behind his former deputy.
Bowen is one of the highest-profile members of the conservative faction of the party. The leadership ballot process could take up to a month.
