Ljubljana - Ending speculations that votes for a change in power have already been secured, the leader of KUL, Jože P. Damijan, told the press on Monday that the newly formed coalition of four left-leaning opposition parties was still waiting to secure seven more votes in parliament before filing a motion of no-confidence in the government.

Damijan, an economist who has offered himself as a prime ministerial candidate backed by four opposition parties, had recently told the weekly paper Mladina that it seemed the needed 46 votes had been secured. He downplayed this at today's joint online media event by KUL, saying the group remained seven votes short.

While he said he would not speak publicly about the starting points for negotiations, Damjan argued the "key thing is that we formed KUL, got coordinated and invited other parties to join this project".

"If it were to happen that we do not get these votes, you cannot blame us - this is the responsibility of those not joining," he said, adding it would simply be necessary to wait for the 2022 general election in this case.

Damijan denied ever saying that seven missing votes were in the bag, arguing he said this was being worked on and that relationships were being built.

He said KUL knew what path to take to get to the needed majority, but that this still hinged on will of those the group was trying to win over.

"The no-confidence vote will happen when at least two parties decide to join in parliament and back the vote. This can only happen after the congress of the [junior coalition] Pensioners' Party (DeSUS)," he said, indicating a potential change of heart in DeSUS under a new leader could provide new momentum.

The results of the election congress of DeSUS, involving postal voting, will be known on 5 December. The likely new president of the party, which presently has five MPs, is Karl Erjavec, who headed DeSUS for 15 years before losing to Aleksandra Pivec in an election congress in January.

While Luka Mesec of the opposition Left, also a KUL member, insisted today that a no-confidence motion would be filed, Damjan assessed that given the DeSUS congress timeline, things will probably not start happening before 10 or 15 December.

Meanwhile, the members of KUL, which also includes the SocDems, the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) and the Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB), presented some of the themes from their platform and commented on the government coronacrisis measures.

They were critical of the government and its communication approach, stressing that having the trust of the people is crucial when it comes to the observing of measures.

Damijan said it was necessary to prepare well for a third wave of the epidemic. He mentioned the need to cooperate with experts and care for the most vulnerable, especially in care homes.