After Zoran Janković failed to secure sufficient support in parliament to get appointed PM-elect on Wednesday, SDS leader Janez Janša is now tipped as the potential new candidate for PM-designate.

The SDS has already initialled a draft coalition agreement with the Virant List (VL), People's Party (SLS) and New Slovenia (NSi) but the parties only have 44 seats between them in the 90-strong National Assembly.

The commercial TV station Kanal A has reported that DeSUS does not have major problems with entering the right-leaning coalition, while the SD is "unofficially still ruling out the possibility of such cooperation".

Meanwhile, POP TV reported that DeSUS leader Karl Erjavec was not too keen on seeing Janša as PM and was advocating the idea of a "third man" at the helm of the government.

The executive council of the SDS met today after which the party issued a statement saying the move by the SDS, VL, SLS and NSi to offer the agreed draft coalition agreement to DeSUS and the SD was "exactly the responsible behaviour that the situation in the country calls for at the moment".

The SDS added that the four partners were "determined to assume responsibility only if a binding coalition agreement that will guarantee a majority coalition and a solid government is signed before the filing of candidacies" for PM-designate.

After his nominee was not endorsed in parliament, President Danilo Türk now has a fortnight to propose a new or the same candidate after consultations with parliamentary factions. A candidate for PM-designate can also be put forward by deputy groups or at least ten MPs.

Türk met National Assembly Speaker Gregor Virant to discuss the situation today, but no details about the meeting are available.

Virant told Kanal A that his party, Virant List (VL), would like to keep the post of the parliamentary speaker in a centre-right coalition.

The party demands to have the finance and the justice ministries and either the post of the speaker or the interior ministry. They also want the Capital Assets Management Agency (AUKN) scrapped and the state to withdraw from the economy.

The SLS has not made any special demands so far, as the focus has been on the content, party president Radovan Žerjav said, adding: "The rest remains open".

The NSi is meanwhile interested in the department for Slovenians abroad and any of the "power ministries", according to party leader Ljudmila Novak.

Žerjav also said that there would be no centre-right coalition without DeSUS or the SD. He expects SD president Borut Pahor and DeSUS leader Erjavec to respond to the invitation on Friday or Saturday.