It is now three months since the general election and the process to put together a new coalition government appears to be grinding to a halt.

But behind the scenes, Mariette Hamer, who has been charged with facilitating the talks, is working on different scenarios to move the process on, sources in The Hague have told broadcaster NOS.

Six parties – VVD, D66, CDA, PvdA, GroenLinks and ChristenUnie – remain potential partners and their leaders are due to meet Hamer for joint talks later on Friday.

NOS says there are three options on the table. One involves asking VVD leader Mark Rutte and D66 leader Sigrid Kaag to write a draft coalition agreement, the second would involve giving Rutte the job alone. Then the other parties would be asked if they were able to support these plans.

The third option, NOS said, involves putting the six parties together and seeing who drops out.

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All six have said they are not opposed to being part of the cabinet, but there are underlying problems. D66, for example, does not want to rule with ChristenUnie for a second time, and the PvdA and GroenLinks have said they want to remain together. However, the VVD and CDA have said they don’t want to work in a cabinet with two left-wing parties.

The sources told NOS they expect Hamer may publish her end report next week, three weeks later than originally planned.