It is perfectly clear that the negotiations for the preservation of certain social benefits will be tough, Erjavec said.

"If pensions are frozen, then there is little chance that DeSUS will stay an active part of the (ruling) coalition," Erjavec said.

He noted that this had been included in the coalition agreement and had been one of the main reasons why DeSUS agreed to join this coalition in the first place and one of the main reasons why the party had left the previous coalition.

The freezing of pensions would be a violation of the coalition agreement and in that case a debate within the party would be launched on DeSUS's future cooperation in the coalition.

Erjavec believes there is always an alternative to the incumbent government in a democracy and that if the government of Janez Janša collapsed a new coalition would be formed.

According to Erjavec, the leadership of DeSUS enjoys the support of the party. However, they agreed to hold an election congress in March at which he said he would definitely stand for another term.

Today's talks also touched on the party's participation in the ruling coalition and whether the decision to join it was correct.

"The majority believes the party can do more to implement its programme and protect its supporter within the coalition," the DeSUS head said.

The party also supports the pension reform, but expects it to include a provision on the adjustment of pensions in the amount of EUR 50m annually which are to come from the pension Fund Management (KAD).

The party leadership also supports the bad bank act and believes it should be implemented so as to give the economy the necessary boost.