Mikhail Gorbachev returns to politics

In a move that will delight many old Cold War warriors, but more importantly critics of Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Gorbachev (pictured) is to return to Russian politics. The author of Glasnost and Perestroika, who is now 77, has announced that he and business partner Alexander Lebedev, a former ex-KGB officer turned billionaire banker, are forming a political party to contest parliamentary elections in 2011.

While Gorbachev has championed freedom of speech, he has, thus far, conspicuously avoided direct criticism of the macho Russian prime minister. However, those expecting tanks on the lawn of the Kremlin and a challenge to Putin's authoritarian style of politics will probably be disappointed. Lebedev, 48, says his party, called the Independent Democratic Party of Russia, will be the "polite" opposition, eschewing the tactics of former chess champion Garry Kasparov's The Other Russia movement, which was banned from contesting last year's parliamentary election.

But he also insisted that his party would not be a toothless cipher and would be prepared to criticise Putin when necessary. Said Lebedev: "Even if I'm polite and politically correct, it's absolutely clear that there are things on which we disagree."

It seems likely that Gorbachev will not dirty his hands with the daily grind, and is more likely to be the party's elder statesman. This will allow Lebedev, who already sits in the Duma with a Kremlin-created opposition party, A Just Russia, to become party leader. The main thrust of their attacks will be the financial sphere. "Our economic policy is complete rubbish," says Lebedev.

It is questionable whether Russians will rally around Gorbachev's standard, though. While he is championed in the West, he is widely reviled at home, with people blaming him for causing the collapse of the Soviet Union. And as a billionaire ranked the 358th richest man in the world last year by Forbes magazine, Lebedev belongs to the unpopular caste of oligarchs.