Of the 13 councillors, all HDZ councillors and a councillor of the Independent Town List, Milivoj Barbir, supported the HDZ proposal, while five Social Democrat councillors, and one councillor from the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS), the Independent Town List and the Croatian People's Party (HNS)/Libra coalition each were against.
In early September the HDZ moved that mayor Karamatic be replaced for proposing that a former commander of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) garrison in Ploce, Commander Velin Jovanov, be declared an honorary citizen of Ploce.
The proposal was later withdrawn because of pressure by local war veterans' associations.
Explaining his proposal, Karamatic said that Jovanov's conduct in 1991 had been very fair and that he had disregarded orders by his superiors and secretly negotiated with local authorities, which helped local defence forces to take control of strategically important facilities and seize large amounts of ammunition and arms.