The SDP, the People's Party (HNS) and the Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) demanded Vukelic's dismissal, the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) called the SDP's request a political pamphlet, the Peasant Party (HSS) and the Social Liberal Party (HSLS) proposed no longer appointing government members to company supervisory boards, while the Party of Rights (HSP) made its vote conditional on additional information.
The Social Democrats said that Vukelic, as chairman of the supervisory board of the Split-based shipyard was politically and morally responsible for irregularities in that company, while the HDZ defended its minister, citing the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor which believes that it is the company's management board rather than its supervisory board that is responsible for possible irregularities.
SDP deputies countered by citing Vukelic's statement from April 2006 that Brodosplit's management had signed all of its contracts with the consent of the company's supervisory board, that he was familiar with all elements of the disputed contracts, and that the contracts were good and did not contain any harmful elements.
"This means that Minister Vukelic did not act out of ignorance or utter negligence of facts. He showed persistence in protecting those committing criminal acts, he insisted that this criminal act be committed," said Nenad Stazic of the SDP.
The SDP did not accept Vukelic's explanation that the Supervisory Board did not know that the disputed contracts could be harmful, because the management had kept relevant information hidden from him, and recalled that under the Law on Companies a company's supervisory board could at any time request from the management board a report on the company's business operations and call a general assembly.
Zeljko Kurtov of the HNS called on the Austrian Interpol to determine if Vukelic was guilty or not, because the investigation that was being conducted by the Split police could take years.
Andrija Hebrang (HDZ) called the SDP's request a political pamphlet, accusing the party of exerting pressure on relevant institutions and preventing them from conducting an independent investigation of Brodosplit.
He called on the SDP to open a debate on scandals that had occurred during the term of the former coalition government.
Tonci Tadic of the HSP said that his party's support for the SDP's motion depended on whether Vukelic had been provided with reliable information as a member of the Brodosplit's Supervisory Board, and if he had acted in any way upon learning that the investigation had been launched into Brodosplit.
The six million dollars, which is reportedly how much damage was caused to Brodosplit with the controversial contracts, is only the tip of the iceberg in the Croatian shipbuidling industry, Tadic said.
He added that a government minister should not sit on any supervisory board.
The HSS and the HSLS proposed that the government be obligated to determine the responsibility of the Supervisory Board in light of the suspected irregularities, recall government members from the supervisory boards of companies with majority state ownership, and prepare regulations that would put an end to the practice of appointing government officials to company supervisory boards.
Deputy Prime Minister Damir Polancec accused the former coalition government of having been politically irresponsible when it granted guarantees to the Viktor Lenac shipyard, based on which state creditors were now claiming 517 million kuna from the shipyard.
He repeated that under the USD8 million contracts signed by the incumbent Brodosplit management with the Wessels company, the price per ship commissioned was higher than the price negotiated by the former management.
To support his claim that attacks on Vukelic were unfounded, Polancec said that it was some members of the Brodosplit's current management board and not its supervisory board that were under suspicion, as well as that shortly after the investigation was launched, the government recommended that the incriminated members of the management board should resign.
Dismissing Polancec's claim that contracts with Wessels were the most favourable ones, Slavko Linic of the SDP said that the prosecution too believed that the suspects had withheld the fact that there had been better contracts than the ones that were signed, in order to acquire material gain.
"The minister was aware of that fact for a year, and as chairman of the Supervisory Board he did nothing to prevent crime," Linic said.