Portugal proposes austerity-era finance minister for EU Commissioner

LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's centre-right government proposed on Wednesday former finance minister Maria Luis Albuquerque, who led the country's austerity efforts a decade ago following an international bailout, for a post on the new European Commission.

Albuquerque, 56, was in charge of putting public accounts on a sound footing between 2013 and 2015 as finance minister after the 2011 bailout and her name is associated in Portugal with painful austerity measures such as salary and pension cuts.

"It's important that each member state makes some of its best people available to work for the good of all Europeans," Prime Minister Luis Montenegro told reporters when announcing Albuquerque's candidacy.

He did not say which role Portugal would like Albuquerque to have in the new Commission but an economic portfolio is likely.

Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, reelected in July by EU lawmakers for a second five-year term, is now choosing her new team, which will consist of a commissioner from each of the bloc's 27 member states.

Opposition politicians in Portugal responded negatively to Montenegro's nomination of Albuquerque for commissioner.

Opposition Socialist lawmaker Pedro Delgado Alves said Albuquerque was "directly responsible for a series of severe measures for the country".

Fabian Figueiredo, parliamentary leader of the Left Bloc, considered Albuquerque "an agent of the troika", referring to the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank which together provided the 78 billion-euro rescue package after Portugal nearly defaulted on its debt.

The unpopular previous centre-right government collapsed in 2015 and was replaced by a Socialist administration, which stayed the course of budget consolidation and achieved solid economic growth. It has posted several budget surpluses while bringing the public debt below 100% of national output.

In March Montenegro led his centre-right alliance to an election victory but it has no parliamentary majority, making it difficult to approve legislation. The government's big survival test will be the 2025 budget vote later this year.

Portugal's representative in the outgoing EU Commission is Elisa Ferreira, who held the cohesion and reforms portfolio.

(Reporting by Patrícia Vicente Rua; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Gareth Jones)