He also regrets the withdrawal of the New Slovenia (NSi) from the talks.

Cerar, the head of the Party of Miro Cerar (SMC), is continuing negotiations with the PENSIONERS' Party (DeSUS), Social Democrats (SD) and the Alliance of Alenka Bratušek (ZaAB), but according to him the ZaAB could be a problem.

The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption recently launched a probe on suspicion that by proposing herself for European commissioner Bratušek might have violated the integrity and corruption prevention act.

Cerar said that the SMC membership was not happy with the way the government selected three candidates for the European Commission, with Bratušek being one of them, and that public opinion about the matter was also negative.

"This affects the thinking about FUTURE cooperation with the ZaAB," he said, adding however that the impact of Bratušek's decision has not been fully tested, because the SMC is currently focusing on comparing the programmes of the two parties.

The council of the SMC is expected to meet on Tuesday or Wednesday to make a final decision about its coalition partners.

Cerar also commented on the withdrawal of the conservative NSi from the coalition talks, saying that this was not good for Slovenia. "They obviously decided not to take responsibility for the changes that will be made by the FUTURE government."

He does not take this personally, though. "I think this is a missed opportunity that the NSi will have to ASSESS on its own," said Cerar, who does not believe that the withdrawal will slow down the formation of the government.

The latest draft of the coalition agreement, which was presented to the prospective partners late on Tuesday, need not be revised after the NSi pulled out, according to him. Changes will be made here or there is necessary, in agreement with other parties.

The SMC will most certainly make sure that solutions necessary for exiting the crisis and normalising Slovenia as a state are kept in the coalition agreement.