Hungary parliament to vote on new PM

BUDAPEST, Hungary, April 13 (UPI) -- Gordon Bajnai, a 41-year-old non-partisan technocrat, is likely to become Hungary's next prime minister, observers said.

Bajnai, economy minister in the current caretaker government, stands a good chance to replace Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany, who resigned late in March over the country's poor economic situation, the Hungarian news agency MTI said Monday.

Bajnai, who already has the support of the two major parliamentary parties, the ruling Socialists and the opposition Free Democrats, is to announce his new Cabinet's anti- economic crisis program and is virtually certain to win a confidence vote when parliament meets Tuesday.

Late last year Hungary was given an IMF-led package of $25 billion to avert bankruptcy. Experts say the country's economy is expected to decline more than 3.5 percent this year.