The Opposition thus managed to prevent the vote on the Ivo Sanader Cabinet's motion for the second time in one month.
Today, deputies of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the Peasant Party (HSS), the People's Party (HNS) and the Party of Rights (HSP) walked out of the hall in protest of the government's failure to nominate new members alongside submitting the dismissal motion. Consequently, Hina may be left without the Governing Council and the government has not yet taken a stand on such developments.
At the end of this week's sitting Sabor Speaker Vladimir Seks announced that the last motion to be put on the agenda for voting was the government's decision to relieve of duties members of Hina's Governing Council Bozo Skoko, Dijana Katica, Drazen Jovic and Ivan Rusan.
Antun Vujic of the SDP responded to Seks's announcement, warning that the government's decision pushed the national news agency into a legal vacuum.
"We do not know if we have the (Governing) Council or not and which consequences can occur. We are urging the government to talk about the situation in which Hina and the Sabor have found themselves," Vujic said.
He also proposed that the dismissal of Ivan Rusan from the Council should not be put to the vote, given that his appointment was not controversial and he did not offer his resignation after the government moved for the dismissal of the Council members on 13 October.
Seks responded that the government had proposed dismissing the four members, and that the Sanader Cabinet would very soon invite applications for posts in Hina's Governing Council and nominate candidates in about two weeks.
Pero Kovacevic of the HSP insisted that Hina cannot be left without the Governing Council and that the dismissal of the said four members must be carried out together with the appointment of new members to the five-member body.
"We cannot put Hina in an unlawful position," the HSP parliamentarian said.
In response to this remark, Seks said that Hina's director can temporarily carry out duties within the remit of the Governing Council until the establishment of a new one.
Seks then proposed voting on the item, but Opposition MPs walked out of the hall. Of the 77 deputies required for the quorum, 70 MPs were present.
On 13 October the Sanader Cabinet sent to parliament the proposal for the dismissal of Jovic, Katica, Rusan and Skoko from Hina's Governing Council with the explanation that they had failed to respect democratic procedure by appointing Smiljanka Skugor-Hrncevic as the new agency director, in spite of the fact that the Council was incomplete because the representative of Hina's staff had not been appointed by that time.