The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy once again became engulfed in infighting in seeking to appoint two cochairmen to lead its emergency committee.

Of the two candidates, conservative academic Lee Sang-don has issued a conditional acceptance while Seoul National University professor emeritus Ahn Kyung-hwan, a progressive, is said to have accepted the offer.

The infighting, which threatens to further endanger the struggling party, broke out over Lee.

Immediately after related reports were released, NPAD hard-liners issued statements opposing the decision, citing his connection to President Park Geun-hye and his conservative colors.

Lee served as a member of the emergency committee for the defunct Grand National Party, led by Park. Lee also served on Park’s election committee in 2012.

“If this card (appointing Lee) is played, I will stage a hunger strike demanding Rep. Park Young-sun’s resignation,” Rep. Jung Cheong-rae, a hard-liner, said Friday. Likening Lee’s selection to an attack “against the fundamentals of the NPAD,” Jung added that it was unthinkable that Lee could take on the role.

Park, who also serves as the party’s floor leader, has been heading the emergency committee since cochairs Reps. Ahn Cheol-soo and Kim Han-gil resigned over the by-election defeat in July.

He added that regardless of whether a cochair is appointed he will resist Lee’s appointment.

Senior NPAD figures have also spoken out against the decision.

“I think it will be difficult for Park to handle it further. This is the third time she made a sudden move. I don’t think (Park) can lead the party in this manner,” former opposition presidential candidate and NPAD senior adviser Chung Dong-young said in a radio interview.

Chung had also written that the decision was “a blunder that shakes the Democratic Party to its roots” and “an insult to the party members and to the party’s history,” on his social media account on Thursday.

Park, who took the post of emergency committee chair with wide support, has been under fire from NPAD lawmakers over her decisions regarding the special Sewol bill.

In negotiating the bill, Park managed to reach common ground with the ruling Saenuri Party on two occasions. However, both compromises were rejected by the families of the victims, and the second agreement was met with disapproval from NPAD lawmakers, who voted down the draft at a party caucus.

The Sewol bill aims to shed light on developments surrounding the April 16 ferry disaster that left more than 300 people dead or missing. Although both parties agree on the necessity of the bill, the issue of giving investigative powers to the committee in charge of the issue has caused a bipartisan deadlock that has paralyzed the parliament for over four months.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)