Power struggle coming to fore in NPAD A grim-faced Rep. Park Young-sun, left, floor leader of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), and Rep. Woo Yoon-keun look at a note on the table during a meeting with senior NPAD lawmakers in the National Assembly, Friday. / Yonhap By Kang Hyun-kyung The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) is miles away from a return to parliament to pass a set of bills, or from any further progress on the controversial "Sewol bill." Hardliners rejected a call to return to the bargaining table immediately to pass those measures, insisting that the ruling Saenuri Party accept the so-called "three-party proposal." Under that proposal, the rival parties would sit down with the families of the victims of the ferry disaster to bridge their differences over the debated Sewol issue, in hopes of finding a way to finally pass the bill. If that is not accepted, the hardliners say, the NPAD will continue to be uncooperative in passing the pending bills and continue to boycott the National Assembly session. It will also hold rallies outside the parliament offices to put further pressure on the ruling party to accept its proposal. Three-term lawmaker Woo Yoon-keun and Rep. Ahn Min-seok are two lawmakers representing the hardliners. Pragmatists, however, argue that the hardliners' appraoch is counterprodcutive. They said that the hardliners continue to turn a deaf ear to the mounting calls to stop playing the "Sewol card" during meetings. Pragmatists say the Sewol quagmire cost the NPAD in the July 30 by-elections, and that now is the time to turn the tide. They said public opinion toward the NPAD has been worsening. In a radio program, Rep. Kim Young-hwan called on his fellow NPAD lawmakers to return to the parliament and fight the ruling party there. "It is a stupid idea to continue launching protests outside the assembly, while refusing to engage in discussion about the bills affecting working-class families," he said. Kim argued that linking the Sewol bill to the NPAD's cooperation in passing the bills related to other issues is also the wrong approach. "If we continue to boycott the National Assembly session, it will be inevitable to hear further criticism that we are trying to push for the Sewol bill at the expense of a set of measures that are directly related to the lives of working-class families," the lawmaker said. On Friday, hardliners and pragmatists continued to bicker among themselves and showed no signs of resolving their differences. Rep. Ahn portrayed the pragmatists as opportunists who are trying to curry favor with the ruling Saenuri Party, adding that they are siding with the "corrupt" ruling party. Pragmatists, meanwhile, tried to put pressure on the hardliners and party leadership. On Friday, they met to discuss ways to persuade hardliners to return to the parliament.