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MOSCOW – The former mayor of Moscow sacked by the Russian president, said on Monday he will set up a political movement to challenge the ruling party, a move that could create a wild card ahead of 2012 presidential elections, Reuters reported.

"Going into politics means working on the establishment of the laws of a democratic society. Today our society has laws that are not democratic," Yuri Luzhkov told opposition magazine The New Times in an interview published on Monday.

The 74-year-old was dismissed last Tuesday by President Dmitry Medvedev after weeks of open confrontation and a mudslinging campaign in state-controlled media.

Luzhkov said he would create a movement to fight for a return to popular elections of Russia's regional leaders, including for Moscow mayor, abolished in 2004 by then President Vladimir Putin as part of his drive to consolidate power.

Luzhkov, who was a leader of Putin's ruling United Russia party until his dismissal and was criticised by opposition leaders whose protests he crushed as mayor, is an unusual advocate of democracy. But analysts said he has hit on a resonant issue.

"He (Luzhkov) has a very strong trump card up his sleeve," said political analyst Kyrill Rogov. "The Kremlin is very much afraid of the fact that 70 to 80 percent of the population want to elect their mayors and governors."

Luzhkov said he will rally pensioners and intellectuals who "believe that their freedom is being limited." He said the movement will seek to "make an impact" during parliamentary elections in 2011 seen as a rehearsal for the presidential vote.

Luzhkov said he would not contest his dismissal in the Supreme Court, as a prominent confidant had suggested he would, claiming that the court is biased in the Kremlin's favour.

Echoing political analysts, Luzhkov said his dismissal was designed to give a successor time to settle in and deliver the Moscow vote to the Kremlin's presidential candidate.

"You need a certain time lag to install your person in Moscow. So that this person could take over the reins of power and guarantee the 2011 election and 2012 election," he said.

Luzhkov carefully avoided direct criticism of Putin but criticized some of his decisions, such as 2006 forestry legislation many say aggravated deadly wildfires this summer.

Medvedev and Putin have hinted that one of them will run in the 2012 election, but not both, and media and political analysts have said the choice of a new Moscow mayor will be a meaningful clue.

"The decision on the next mayor of Moscow is a signal. If it is Putin's man it means that Putin is likely to return to the Kremlin," said political analyst Olga Kryshtanovskaya. "If it is Medvedev's man, then his chances will improve."

Media and analysts name Putin's chief of staff Sergei Sobyanin, Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov as possible candidates for the job Luzhkov held for 18 years.

Sobyanin, a former governor of oil-rich Tyumen region and the only one in the list who has an experience of running a major region and working for the federal government, gave a rare interview to the Russian state television over the weekend. He commented on Moscow's notorious traffic jams that used to have drivers cursing Luzhkov.