On the other hand, the parliamentary majority stressed that there was no reason to give Kosor a vote of no confidence, saying the SDP's motion was full of lies, deceptions and accusations.

Josip Djakic of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) said the motion encroached upon the judicial authority and the State Prosecutor's Office and that the SDP was pressuring all state institutions that were seriously cracking down on corruption and crime.

Djakic cited a European Commission report on Croatia's progress in the Judiciary and Fundamental Rights negotiation chapter, saying the Commission saw Kosor as the only true guarantor that the anti-corruption campaign would continue.

Gordan Maras of the SDP said "the people from Brussels don't live in Croatia" and that the majority of Croatian citizens wanted early elections. "They know they live poorly," he said, with his party colleague Nenad Stazic adding that a recent survey showed that 49 per cent of Croatians wanted early elections.

Stazic said that if the government and the HDZ enjoyed the citizens' confidence, they should prove it in elections, adding that such confidence did not exist and that the HDZ fought every chance whereby citizens could democratically show what they thought of the ruling party.

Gordana Sobol, too, said Kosor and her cabinet were responsible for the difficult situation in which Croatian citizens lived and that they were the main hurdles to any measures and reforms.

Davor Huska of the HDZ urged Sobol to read the government's report on the implementation of its Economic Recovery Programme, saying it outlined the measures, activities and reforms that had been implemented and those that would follow.

Seventy-eight MPs have requested the floor and so far only a few have been able to speak because of many rebuttals. According to unofficial reports, the parties have failed to agree that their deputies withdraw their requests to speak.