Portugal's President Jorge Sampaio kept the nation guessing Friday as to whether or not he would call early elections to replace the nation's EU-bound prime minister.

Sampaio issued no statement after chairing a rare meeting of the Council of State, an 18-member consultative body, to help him decide whether or not to call early elections to replace Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso who resigned on Monday.

The council, which is made up of former presidents, the governor of the central bank and other top officials, met for four hours at Sampaio's official residence, but gave no clues after the meeting as to what had been discussed.

Under the Portuguese constitution the president must consult the council before parliament can be dissolved although he can meet with the body for other reasons.

Members of the council, which last met in February 2003 to discuss Portugal's possible involvement in the US-led war and invasion of Iraq, rushed past reporters and refused to comment after the meeting.

Durao Barroso, who was approved by European Union leaders last week as the next president of the European Commission, will take over from Italy's Romano Prodi as the president of the EU's executive arm on November 1, provided he wins approval from the European Parliament at a hearing on July 22.

Sampaio, a socialist, has met with most of the members of the council individually, as well as with the leaders of Portugal's main political parties, in recent days as he decides between calling fresh elections or naming a new prime minister from the ruling centre-right Social Democrat coalition.

A spokeswoman for the president told the Lusa news agency Sampaio would inform the nation by Sunday of his decision.

Polls show a majority of Portuguese favour fresh elections, which are not expected until 2006.

If elections are called, media have calculated they would likely be timed to coincide with regional elections which are scheduled for October on Portugal's Madeira and Azores archipelagos.

Sampaio has referred to his power to call early elections in the past as an "atomic bomb" which he would only use as a last resort.

But he is reportedly reluctant to appoint the man who last week replaced Durao Barroso as leader of the Social Democrats, Lisbon mayor Pedro Santana Lopes, to be prime minister because of his populist policies and lack of government experience at the national level.

Santana Lopes, who is to the right of Durao Barroso, has been accused by his detractors of being Portugal's answer to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi because of his tendency to mix media, football and politics.

Durao Barroso's Social Democrat-led coaltion was roundly thrashed at the polls in last month's European parliament elections and trails the main opposition Socialists in opinion surveys.