* Ruling party endorses chief of staff Rousseff"s candidacy
* Rousseff to step down from current job by April 3
* Party proposes continuation of Lula policies
(Adds detail, Lula, delegates, changes byline)
By Ana Nicolaci da Costa and Fernando Exman
BRASILIA, Feb 20 (Reuters) - President Luiz Inacio Lula daSilva"s chief of staff on Saturday vowed to continue Brazil"sinvestor-friendly economic policies if she won the Oct. 3presidential race as the ruling Workers" Party candidate.
Speaking to the party"s national convention in Brasiliaafter it formally endorsed her candidacy, Dilma Rousseff, 62,said she would maintain fiscal discipline, a free-floatingexchange rate, and inflation targets -- the pillars of Lula"seconomic strategy.
"We will ensure macro-economic stability," Rousseff, atrained economist, told the party"s delegates in the capitalBrasilia. She added that she felt "totally prepared" to governthe country.
She would become the country"s first female president,though two opinion polls released this month show her trailingconservative Sao Paulo state Governor Jose Serra of theopposition PSDB party by between 5 percent and 11 percent.
Lula, the most popular president in Brazil"s recent historybut prevented by law from running for a third consecutive term,said Rousseff"s candidacy was not designed to hold his placefor a possible return in 2014.
"I want her to win a second mandate," said Lula, a formerunion leader who virtually imposed Rousseff"s candidacy on theWorkers" Party that he founded 30 years ago. He said he chose herfor her rigor, ethics and determination.
Brazil has during Lula"s rule consolidated its position as oneof the world"s leading economies. It bounced back quickly from abrief recession last year and its economy is expected to grow bymore than 5 percent this year.
The Workers" Party on Friday approved a campaign platform thatproposes extending Lula"s economic policies. But it also includedproposals to expand the role of state enterprises, tax big wealthand expand social welfare programs.
Rousseff told chanting supporters that, as president, shewould continue to expand the civil service despite warnings byopposition parties of the rising costs of maintaining a bloatedand inefficient state bureaucracy.
WOMEN VOTE
Lula, a union leader who rose from humble, working-class rootsto the presidency, urged Brazilian women to support Rousseff inthe election in an effort to battle deep-seated gender inequalityin a country where few women have risen to high political office.
"Women are still treated like second-class citizens," Lulasaid.
His appeal resonated with some of the 3,000 delegates andothers in attendance at the convention.
"It"s high time for a woman president," said CibeleFiguereido, a 50-year old teacher and Rousseff supporter.
While an all-female percussion group gyrated its way throughthe flag-waving audience after Rousseff"s speech, a small group oftattooed natives in traditional headdress protested against thegovernment"s Indian policy.
Rousseff must step down from her current post by April 3 incompliance with electoral law and will then have to negotiate withas many as 10 potential allied parties to forge a common campaignplatform.
She said she wanted to continue working with Lula"s currentcoalition, a group of 11 parties ranging from the far left to thepolitical center.
"I want to form a government coalition," said Rousseff, whowas a left-wing guerrilla militant during the country"s 1964-85military dictatorship.
Some analysts, however, say she lacks Lula"s political savvyto manage often volatile party interests.
Unlike the folksy Lula, Rousseff is generally seen asuncharismatic and prone to technocratic speech, which pollsterssay could lose her votes in a country where a candidate"spersonality may outweigh campaign issues. [ID:nN19203137]
"I think the biggest obstacle Dilma will face is that shelacks the ability to communicate with the people," said RomuloCarneiro, town mayor in the northeastern Ceara state.
(Additional reporting by Carmen Munari and Maria CarolinaMarcello; Writing by Raymond Colitt; Editing by Paul Simao andVicki Allen)
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