According to Pahor's office, the meeting will be formal and aimed at "assessing the options for Janez Janša to form a new Slovenian government".

The office noted that Pahor had decided to offer a mandate to form a government to the winner of the election.

After the meeting, Pahor and Janša will give statements for reporters.

Janša's right-wing party won just under 25% of the vote on Sunday, which gives it 25 seats in the 90-member National Assembly.

However, a fragmented hung parliament with nine parties will make it hard to form a government, especially as six centre-left parties have so far been ruling out forming a coalition with Janša.

The SDS, which said it was open to talks with all prospective partners, has been mum about its activities post-election.

Parties on the centre-left - the Social Democrats (SD), Left, Modern Centre Party (SMC) and Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB), denied having conducted any talks so far.

Zmago Jelinčič, the president of the National Party (SNS), meanwhile said it was best for Janša and Pahor to meet first before official talks can start.

The runners-up, the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ), which has repeatedly said it would not join an SDS coalition, held a meeting with all of its 13 MPs today.

Speculation has been rampant before and after voting day that some of its MPs may defect given that the party is fresh and affiliation is not string yet, but an LMŠ spokesman denied any such suggestions.

None of the MPs has indicated they might leave the deputy group or expressed dissatisfaction with the decision not to join an SDS coalition, the party told the STA.