After talks with Bratušek last week, Erjavec publicly announced that the names would be made known on Monday, expectedly following the regular weekly meeting of coalition leaders hosted by the prime minister.

The public has been waiting for the names since November last year when Tomaž Gantar of DeSUS stepped down as health minister over lack of support for health reform, following in the footsteps of Stanko Stepišnik, a member of Bratušek's Positive Slovenia (PS) who was resigned after a company in part owned by him bid for state subsidies.

Speculation has been rife, including about the possibility of the two parties exchanging the departments under their responsibility. DeSUS, which is currently in charge of the ministries of health and foreign affairs, is allegedly interested in taking over the Office for Slovenians Abroad.

The office is presently led by Tina Komel, the minister without portfolio from the PS ranks, but it has been suggested that she could be replaced by former DeSUS MP Vasja Klavora.

Reports also suggest that DeSUS could propose State Secretary Brigita Čokl to take over as health minister, which proposal some of the coalition partners reportedly oppose.

One of the strongest candidates for health minister, former president of the Court of Audit Igor Šoltes, rejected the offer in January due to opposition by the Social Democrats (SD), and just days later the offer was also declined by the boss of the Praktikum trade union of family doctors Igor Muževič.

Meanwhile, little is known about the search for the new economy minister. One of the plausible candidates tipped for the post has been Alenka Avberšek, the executive director of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS), who has reportedly declined the offer as well.

The GZS has been among those warning of that the absence of a fully-empowered minister is only deepening the economic turmoil in Slovenia. Appeals against any further delay in the appointment of the two ministers have also come from the coalition Citizens' List (DL) and SocDems.

Meanwhile, the four coalition partners remain busy crafting the final version of the coalition contract for the rest of the term. After coalition leaders reconciled their views on the draft proposed by the PS last week, the latest version will now be debated by each of the parties separately.

The parties are expected to complete at least the first round of discussions on the document by 13 February, starting with the DL, whose council is meeting over the contract today, and followed by DeSUS later this week.