"A decision to establish a political party was made in December 2006, and we will now begin to translate it into reality," he said.
After resigning as prime minister in 2004, Kasyanov joined the Different Russia coalition, whose anti-Kremlin rallies and their frequently violent dispersal by the authorities attracted international attention.
The ex-premier is a staunch critic of President Vladimir Putin and is planning to challenge the incumbent's favored successor in the March 2008 polls.
He hoped to run as the Different Russia coalition's single candidate, but other leaders, including former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, have indicated they may have someone else in mind.
Kasyanov's future party, named tentatively People for Democracy and Justice,
will help his presidential bid and let him and his allies gain seats in the State Duma and regional legislatures.
He said the new party's target audience will be the middle class and that he hoped to attract some 60,000 members.
Kasyanov said that the Different Russia coalition, using street protests and grassroots campaigning to counter the Kremlin's alleged offensive on democratic freedoms, had already accomplished its mission and that it was now time for it to move on.
"Since its establishment a year ago, the coalition has achieved a lot, bringing in an innovative vision for the country's development," he said. "But now we are passing on to a second stage, where the main objective will be to run in presidential elections."
Kasyanov also said street protests staged by the coalition across the nation are becoming less and less efficient and that there is no point in more rallies until a clear-cut political platform is set out. According to him, the alliance's leaders have so far failed to reach a consensus on either their platform or their single presidential candidate.
