Instead, he has relied on his contacts in the security services, in the Yeltsin "family" and among various oligarchs to consolidate his hold on the reins of power.
Similarly, Yeltsin made a point of standing above the political fray, refusing to identify with any party.
Shoigu said the new party "will achieve what a majority of the people desire so much: The political situation in the country will become clear and predictable."
Shaimiyev said the new party will stand for a strong state and federation--an allusion to resisting separatist tendencies in some regions.
Among its priorities, he said, will be greater freedom of speech, a market economy, the creation of a favorable climate for small business, private ownership of farmland and the creation of a civil society.
Luzhkov said the party will promote efficient central authority.
"We will never be able to accomplish any of the goals proclaimed without a strong state," he said. "The country needs an efficient authority acting as the guarantor of political stability and inviolability of the constitutional system."
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Times staff writer Robyn Dixon contributed to this report.
