President Park Geun-hye has been repeatedly urging the National Assembly, particularly the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, to pass pending bills to vitalize the economy and reform the labor market as soon as possible.

The delay in passage of these bills is not due to strong criticism by the NPAD. It is seemingly because they are not the primary concern of the main opposition’s key leaders at the present stage.

If the NPAD assesses the bills as a factor frustrating its supporters, the public may tolerate its backlash or protest against the ruling Saenuri Party. But the party is not delivering any clear message to Park’s urgent requests.

If so, are they busy leading the particular group of protestors who are holding rallies against government policies? It appears not.

A special committee held a three-day hearing from Monday at the YWCA building in Seoul to look into hidden facts, if any, behind last year’s Sewol ferry disaster. However, the NPAD does not appear to be actively backing the bereaved families of the victims.

In the past, NPAD leaders including its chairman Moon Jae-in had strongly vowed to take the initiative to hand out tough punishments to the people responsible for the sinking, by pursuing the case.

The party has held sit-in protests whenever big social or political issues anger a certain section of society. Among the issues were the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, Lone Star’s investment in Korea Exchange Bank and the four major rivers refurbishment project during the Lee Myung-bak administration.

The so-called liberals of Korea, however, have gradually halted their active participation in tackling the issues as time went by. Their focus keeps shifting to new issues highlighted by the media, while the previous issues are buried after the conservatives ultimately attain their goals.

Both Moon and Ahn Cheol-soo, who just defected from the NPAD, need to review what they are doing to ease the debt and interest burdens of a large section of middle- and low-income earners.

What are they doing to block the further collapse of the middle-income bracket amid record-high household debts? What legislative actions are they proposing to resolve the critical unemployment rate?

In the coming campaign for the April 13 general election, the opposition is projected to vigorously tackle the government’s plan to reintroduce the controversial state-authored history textbooks for schools.

The issue is providing the party with a good opportunity, as some conservatives also reportedly oppose its introduction.

It is important for the party to continue its all-out fight, irrespective of the outcome of the Assembly elections. Moon has already pledged to block the move, claiming it would distort the nation’s modern history.

Many voters don’t seem to be interested in who will lead the main opposition. The lingering power struggle between Moon and Ahn may end up being a crucial mistake with regard to blocking the move to introduce new history textbooks.