By Alexander Tanas
CHISINAU (Reuters) - Moldova's education minister, who forced the resignation of the prime minister last month by raising suspicions over his school diplomas, appeared on Thursday to be poised to replace him, political sources said.
A source close to the leader of the Liberal-Democratic party, which heads a pro-Europe ruling coalition, said the group had chosen 43-year-old Maia Sandu to lead a new government towards European integration.
The small ex-Soviet state, sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania, has been in turmoil since $1 billion (£641 million) disappeared from the banking system and Prime Minister Chiril Gaburici resigned in June after just over 100 days in office.
Gaburici, a 38-year-old businessman who had run the Moldovan mobile telephone company Moldcell, stepped down after Sandu accused him of using fraudulent school credentials to advance his career.
Gaburici said the allegations were politically motivated. But Sandu, a zealous education minister who fought to raise standards and end the practice of parents buying their children's way through examinations, insisted on a police investigation and Gaburici subsequently resigned.
The ruling three-party coalition was now poised to send Sandu's candidacy to President Nicolae Timofti as official candidate for prime minister - something regarded as a formality. She will become prime minister only after parliament passes a vote of confidence in the coming days.
The source, close to another former prime minister, Vlad Filat, who heads the Liberal Democrats, said other names were considered, including Filat and Foreign Minister Natalia Gherman, the acting prime minister.
"Considering public opinion and the position of Moldova's external partners, Filat gave preference to Sandu," the source told Reuters.
Moldova's political instability has held up agreement on a new programme with the International Monetary Fund, which has in turn blocked disbursement of vital European Union budgetary support to help it out of financial crisis.
With only 52 seats in the 101-seat parliament, the three pro-EU parties have only a slender majority in a country where a considerable part of the 3.5 million population is Russian-speaking, many of whom favour closer economic ties with Moscow.
Moldova embarked on a pro-Europe course in 2009, despite its reliance on Russian energy supplies and the presence of a pro-Russia self-proclaimed statelet called Transdniestria within its borders.
Economic turbulence in Russia, Moldova's main trading partner, has hit the pace of Moldova's growth in 2015. And Russian involvement in the separatist conflict in Ukraine has cause further concern for its pro-EU leaders.
Filat led a pro-EU government from September 2009 but was forced from office in March 2013 following charges that his government was mired in corruption.
A pressing task for any new government will be to trace the $1 billion - equivalent to one eighth of Moldovan gross domestic product - which disappeared from three of the country's largest banks. Thousands took to the streets of the capital in protest.
(Writing By Richard Balmforth, editing by Larry King) OLGBWORLD Reuters UK Online Report World News 20150723T103740+0000