BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s leading opposition  candidate Jose Serra  yesterday launched his bid for the  presidency in October elections, proposing more efficiency, new  trade deals and improved public transportation and security.

Serra, of the centrist PSDB party, also criticized high taxes in Latin America’s largest economy and accused the  current administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva  of turning a blind eye to human rights abuses abroad.

The PSDB, the right-wing Democratas, and the Popular Socialist Party declared their support for the veteran  politician at an event in the capital Brasilia.

“We are here today to renew our commitment to Jose Serra,”  Democratas president Rodrigo Maia told several thousand  supporters at a packed convention center.

Serra’s main rival for the top job will be Dilma Rousseff  of Lula’s ruling, centre-left Workers’ Party.

Serra, a 68-year-old trained economist, has a 9-point lead  over Rousseff in an opinion poll two weeks ago.

A former health minister and mayor of the city of Sao  Paulo, Serra resigned as Sao Paulo state governor last week in  line with election laws.

Under the slogan “Brazil can do better” Serra proposed a  more efficient and professional state apparatus that would  allow for lower taxes but more investment.

“Practising fiscal austerity means doing more and better with the same re-sources,” he said in a prepared speech.

Neither Serra nor Rousseff are seen as breaking with the  mostly market-friendly policies that have ensured economic  stability over the past decade. But some investors prefer Serra  for his party’s centrist position and his experience.

Brazil’s economic growth was not sustainable with a  “perverse combination” of high taxes, growing spending and a  rising balance of payments deficit, Serra said.

Brazil needed to significantly boost its investment in  infrastructure, which was one of the lowest in the world.   Pot-holed roads and crowded airports were a major brake on the  economy, he said in a swipe at Rousseff, who headed the Lula  administration’s infrastructure investments.

“Brazil’s GDP could grow more — 50 per cent more — if its  infrastructure were adequate.”

Brazil also needed to pursue new exports markets more  aggressively and negotiate more free trade deals, Serra said.

“Do you know how many trade accords Brazil signed in recent  years? One, and it  still requires congressional approval. Where’s the aggressive trade policy?”

Serra, who was persecuted during military dictatorships in  Brazil and Chile, criticized the Lula administration for an  ambiguous stance on human rights abuses abroad.

“Democracies don’t have workers who disagree dying of a  hunger strike,” he said referring to Lula’s recent description  of a dying Cuban dissident as a common criminal.

PSDB leaders have also criticized Lula’s close ties to  Iran, whose president visited Brazil last year.

“Human rights are not negotiable,” Serra said.

He also dwelled on health and public security issues,  which opinion polls show are the Lula government’s weakness.

“What mother or father doesn’t feel threatened by violence  and drug-trafficking?.”

Drug-related violence rattles Rio de Janeiro and other  cities frequently, killing thousands of people each year.

Jacira Nazare, who distributed good-luck bracelets at the  event, said she would vote for Serra, even though she backed  Lula’s reelection in 2006.

“I haven’t seen the improvement I had hoped for where I  live,” she said, citing problems of insecurity and drugs in her  neighbourhood in the northeastern city of Salvador.

Known for his often stiff demeanour and pedantic style,  Serra appeared relaxed and reaped the occasional, spontaneous  applause as he cracked jokes and told anecdotes of his life.

But despite the fanfare, party leaders remained realistic,  knowing that Rousseff will benefit from the president’s huge  popularity and a quickly rebounding economy.

“It will be one of the most difficult elections of all  time,” PSDB president Sergio Guerra told supporters.