Although the collective state presidency was expected to name the prime minister designate on Wednesday, this item was not on the agenda of its last regular session this year.
"The appointment of the prime minister designate is impossible exclusively because political talks between leading parties on the establishment of a parliamentary majority have not been completed yet," Presidency Chairman Nebojsa Radmanovic told Dnevni Avaz daily.
Radmanovic's colleague Haris Silajdzic said he did not expect the country's new government to be set up before February next year.
It is almost certain that Nikola Spiric of the Party of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) will be the new prime minister, but Presidency members believe that he should still not be appointed until it is established which parties will support him and nominate candidates for ministerial posts.
The only clear thing is that the SNSD will nominate a part of ministers, but it is not known whether and what kind of relationship will exist between the two strongest Muslim parties - the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and the Party for Bosnia-Herzegovina, and whether the Croat parties HDZ BiH and HDZ 1990 will participate in the government.
SDA leader Sulejman Tihic and the president of the HDZ BiH, Dragan Covic, confirmed after a meeting in Mostar on Tuesday that the two parties remained partners in forming the government in line with a previous agreement.
The two parties reached agreement on a meeting between leaders of the most influential political parties, to take place after New Year holidays, to reach agreement on the next government.
However, it is not known whether representatives of the HDZ 1990 will be invited to the meeting. Party leader Bozo Ljubic said he believed that nobody wanted to keep his party out of the government.
The idea of both Croat parties participating in the country's government is indirectly supported by High Representative to Bosnia-Herzegovina Christian Schwarz-Schilling, and it is openly advocated by the Roman Catholic Archbishop, Cardinal Vinko Puljic.
The key to making a decision on the matter is in the hands of the SDA and the SBiH, which have opposed views on this issue. US Ambassador Douglas McElhaney has reportedly assumed the role of a mediator in settling the issue and he has been conducting separate talks with party leaders.