The list includes all 13 members of the proposed cabinet, with five appointed by Bratušek's Positive Slovenia (PS), three each by the Social Democrats (SD) and Citizens' List (DL) and two by the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS).

The names of the candidates for ministers trickled in during the day, though it was unclear until the last who will take the key finance portfolio or whether Bratušek would seek to fill all posts at once at all.

After much speculation and several names being floated in the media, Uroš Čufer, since 2004 the head of the financial management centre at the NLB bank, has been proposed as the finance minister.

Bratušek told TV Slovenija that she chose among three candidates for finance minister and decided to pick Čufer because of his background in banking. "He will be able to start dealing with Slovenia's biggest problem immediately," she told the late night news show Odmevi.

"He assured me he had nothing to do with non-performing loans," Bratušek said about potential criticism of Čufer given that NLB is crumbling under a mountain of soured loans.

As for the other candidates, Bratušek said that each party had the right to choose their own candidates with the other partners having the right to reject absolutely unacceptable names, but she nevertheless described her cabinet as "my optimal team".

"I may have wanted more non-partisan experts...but if an expert is a party member, I see no problem in that," she said.

The PS also put forward its MPs Stanko Stepišnik for economy minister, Roman Jakič for defence minister, and Tina Komel as minister without portfolio for Slovenians abroad. Uroš Grilc of the Ljubljana municipality is the candidate for culture minister.

The SD, the only party whose president will not join the cabinet, nominated MP Dejan Židan for agriculture minister, Anja Kopač Mrak as minister of labour, family, social affairs and equal opportunities (she served as state secretary there under the Borut Pahor government), and university professor Jernej Pikalo for education, science and sports minister.

The DL fielded its president, Gregor Virant, for the interior and public administration portfolio, while Senko Pličanič will return as minister of justice, a post he held until recently in the Janša government. Igor Maher has been nominated for the powerful infrastructure and spatial planning portfolio.

DeSUS will return to government with both ministers who served under Janša, party president Karl Erjavec as foreign minister and Tomaž Gantar as health minister.

The hearings of candidates by the competent parliamentary working bodies will start next week. If everything runs smoothly, parliament will vote on the new government on Wednesday. Bratušek announced to put her cabinet to a vote of confidence in parliament within a year.