A local civic group called on President Park Geun-hye Tuesday to help enact a special bill aimed at uncovering the truth behind April’s ferry disaster that claimed more than 300 lives.

Rival parties have been deadlocked over the bill that grants investigative powers to a parliamentary committee tasked with determining the cause of one of the country’s worst maritime disasters.

The ruling Saenuri Party and main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy have so far struck two successive deals on the bill, but both have been rejected by the relatives of the ferry victims, who have been camping out in downtown Seoul for weeks.

“(Park) should make a decision so that the Sewol special law is enacted before the Chuseok holiday,” the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy said in a press conference. The holiday starts on Sunday.

The group said Park should also meet with families of the victims of the disaster as she had earlier promised.

The family members also delivered signatures of some 4.8 million people to the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, demanding the early adoption of the law.

In addition to 3.5 million signatures delivered to the National Assembly earlier, the families handed over signatures collected during a near four-month-long campaign. (Yonhap)