Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski named former finance minister Marek Belka on Monday as his candidate to become prime minister with the task of completing economic reforms after Poland joins the EU in May.
Kwasniewski said Belka's clout among investors and his reputation as an economic technocrat made him the best replacement for Prime Minister Leszek Miller, who announced last week that his minority left-wing cabinet would resign on May 2.
"Today, my candidate is Marek Belka.
He is a good candidate who can answer challenges facing Poland," Kwasniewski told a news conference after talks with leaders of political parties.
Belka, 52, currently in Iraq as the top economic aide in the US-led administration, was due to return to Poland on Wednesday.
Once Miller resigns, Belka will have 14 days to propose his cabinet and win parliament's approval.
Kwasniewski said that unless parliament approved a new prime minister soon after May 2 - be it Belka or someone else - Poland would probably have to bring forward general elections to August from late 2005.
Miller announced his resignation on Friday, yielding to pressure from his own party after its popularity plunged to nine percent in March from 42 percent during 2001 general elections due to sleaze scandals and botched health reforms.
Belka, an advocate of fiscal austerity, was widely praised by investors when he served as finance minister in 1997 and 2001-2002.
He said he was ready to form a cabinet if he had support to push ahead with the outgoing cabinet's austerity plan needed to ward off a fiscal crisis.
Belka's nomination pleased financial investors, pushing the zloty and bonds higher.
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