Warsaw: Polish transsexual lawmaker Anna Grodzka said Friday she would run for president in May elections, breaking new ground in the staunchly Catholic country.

"Yes, I`ll be a presidential candidate," the 60-year-old former filmmaker and publisher told the Wirtualna Polska web site, saying she had the backing of the Green Party.

Born a man, Grodzka was elected Poland`s first transsexual lawmaker in 2011.

Her candidacy was not expected to significantly change the state of play, four months ahead of the vote.

Incumbent President Bronislaw Komorowski, a centre-right independent who has been in the job since 2010, enjoys a comfortable lead in opinion polls.

Some surveys show the 62-year-old, who is close to the Civic Platform (PO) governing party, winning reelection at the first round.

The conservative opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party has chosen 42-year-old lawyer Andrzej Duda as its presidential candidate, while the former communist Social Democrats have tapped 35-year-old Magdalena Ogorek, a political unknown with model good looks and a doctorate in history.

Flamboyant tycoon-turned-politician Janusz Palikot from the centre-left Your Movement party has also thrown his hat in the ring.

The parliament is to announce the exact date of the election next week.