FACTBOX-Positions of Brazil's ruling party candidate

Feb 19 (Reuters) - President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's chosen candidate in Brazil's Oct. 3 presidential election, chief of staff Dilma Rousseff, is expected to be endorsed by the ruling Workers' Party on Saturday. [ID:N19203137]

She currently trails Sao Paulo state Governor Jose Serra of the opposition PSDB party by between 5 and 11 percentage points in opinion polls.

At its convention, the Workers' Party, or PT, is expected to approve a campaign platform that proposes extending Lula's mostly market-friendly policies. But it also includes proposals to expand the role of state enterprises.

The PT and Rousseff will have to negotiate with numerous allies to forge a common government platform.

Here are some of Rousseff's positions on key issues:

BIGGER STATE ROLE

Rousseff is believed to favor an expanded role for state firms in the economy, a position that became more popular during the global financial crisis. This could entail reducing private sector participation in industries such as banking, oil and gas, and utilities.

Rousseff favors an overhaul of the state apparatus to improve its efficiency and streamline bureaucracy. But she would not cut its size or reduce benefits for civil servants.

Rousseff was instrumental in drafting a proposal now in Congress that would give the government more control over the oil industry and grant state energy company Petrobras (PBR.N)(PETR4.SA) a key role in developing massive new offshore oil finds.

MONETARY POLICY

Rousseff is unlikely to abandon inflation targeting but has occasionally criticized the central bank for being too rigorous in pursuing such targets. She has called on the central bank to look at the broader economy, including job growth, and not just inflation in making its monetary policy decisions.

PRIMARY BUDGET SURPLUS

Rousseff has said that Brazil needs to continue to generate a primary budget surplus and reduce public debt for several years beyond 2010. Some analysts say she would achieve this more gradually than than her rival Serra. Public spending rose sharply in 2009, eroding the primary budget surplus to an eight-year low of 2 percent of gross domestic product.

REFORMS

It is uncertain how hard Rousseff would push structural reforms that business leaders consider essential to ensure Brazil's international competitiveness. These include proposed reforms to tax, pension and labor laws.

Her party supports a proposal to simplify a complex and unwieldy tax system but Lula has been unable to push it through Congress. Rousseff has ruled out a major reform of labor laws, which critics say are too rigid and costly.

FOREIGN POLICY

Rousseff is expected to continue Lula's foreign policy, boosting ties with developing nations, pushing for reform of multilateral agencies and lobbying for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.

ABORTION

In an interview last year, Rousseff said she favored the legalization of abortion because too many women die in Brazil as a result of unsafe, clandestine abortions. Her position could become a campaign issue in an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic society. (Reporting by Raymond Colitt, Editing by Todd Benson and Kieran Murray)