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Janković, who has expressed the wish for a congress already last year and seems to be keen on reclaiming the leadership of the biggest parliamentary party, has not yet said whether he will vie for the post.

If he ran and won the vote, this would most likely lead to the collapse of the coalition, as none of the coalition parties are willing to cooperate with the PS under his leadership.

Janković was forced to step down as PS president over a year ago after the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption found that he violated graft law as he could not account for more than EUR 2m in assets.

He resigned to allow Bratušek to form a coalition as the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) and the Citizens' List (DL) would not enter a partnership with him, having just exited a coalition with the Democrats (SDS), whose leader Janez Janša was also found in violation of the anti-corruption legislation.

While Janković is yet to announce his decision, Bratušek seems determined to fight for the party and addressed an emotional appeal to its members on Monday, urging them to close ranks.

She said that she had been too passive in her roles as party president and PM and that the party was stagnating under "concealed double presidency".

Speculations about candidates will end by Monday, as the executive committee decided that official candidacies must be made known by 14 April, executive committee vice chair and a PS vice-president Maša Kociper told the press.

New candidacies will not be permitted after this date, but the candidates will be able to withdraw on the day of the congress.

Kociper said that the party president would be elected in a secret vote by party members attending the congress. Under party rules, only members who joined the party by today will have the right to vote.

The party was initially to hold a congress already in October 2013, with Janković and Bratušek filing presidential candidacies.

Their candidacies are still valid, however the executive committee decided to call on the two candidates for confirmation, as more than six months have passed since the candidacies were filed, Kociper told the press.