Cerar's SMC party was due to forward by Monday night to four parties an early version of the document which will form the basis for finalising a coalition, after the parties held preliminary talks on Thursday and Friday.

Remaining in the coalition building process are the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS), Social Democrats (SD), New Slovenia (NSi) and the Alliance of Alenka Bratušek (ZaAB).

The SMC, the landslide winner of the general election, requires 10 seats along with its 36 in the National Assembly to form a majority government.

DeSUS would suffice with its 10 seats and appears to be the most serious contender, although Cerar has indicated his desire to build a rainbow coalition spanning the parliamentary isle.

To achieve this it would have to win over the left-leaning SD and the conservative NSi, which have kept their options open following the election.

The SD, which has qualms about privatisation, said it would have no problem going into the opposition. Its leader Dejan Židan said a decision would depend on the priorities set by the SMC.

Similary, the NSi is expected to decide on continuing talks after it reviews the SMC proposals in the draft document. It has demanded that its liberal economic platform be part of a final deal.

While it remains open what parties will form the next government, which Cerar hopes to have in place in September, it is already clear that the Democratic Party (SDS) and the United Left (ZL) will be in the opposition.

The SDS was snubbed by Cerar because of its failure to accept the corruption conviction handed to its leader Janez Janša, while the ZL's radical socialist programme make it incompatible with other parties.