Czech PM proposes central bank chief for EC job

PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech interim Prime Minister Jan Fischer has proposed the central bank governor, Zdenek Tuma, for the post of the Czech representative at the European Commission, a government spokesman said Sunday.

Spokesman Roman Prorok said Fischer, a non-partisan, had proposed Tuma to the main political parties and Tuma had agreed to become a candidate to join the European Union's executive body.

"Tuma is a personality that meets not only all the expert and moral requirements, but as a life-long non-partisan has the best qualification to win political support across the political parties," the spokesman said.

There has been no agreement yet with the parties, the right-wing Civic Democrats and the leftist Social Democrats, Prorok said.

But Fischer has said that his cabinet would choose its own candidate if the parties reach no agreement.

The non-partisan cabinet, which has the right to nominate the commissioner, is expected to discuss the issue Monday.

Fischer rejected Saturday an offer from political parties to take the job of the EU commissioner himself, saying he could not give up the responsibility of leading the country to an election due in mid-2010.

Tuma, 49, has won international acclaim for steering Czech monetary policy in the past decade. His second and last term ends in February 2011.

The bank has kept inflation low and interest rates low and the Czech financial sector has not suffered any big shocks in the global financial crisis, with no banks requiring state aid.