MOSCOW, September 20 (RIA Novosti) - A new Russian party, People for Democracy and Justice, could elect ex-premier Mikhail Kasyanov leader at its founding congress on Saturday, Kasyanov's media adviser said Thursday.

"The party will elect its governing bodies. Kasyanov will be nominated for chairman," Yelena Dikun said.

The former premier currently heads the Russian People's Democratic Union under the auspices of the Other Russia opposition coalition.

Dikun said the new party would adopt a charter and program at the congress, as well as "other formalities to submit registration documents to the Justice Ministry."

The PR official also said that the party would not be running in parliamentary elections slated for December 2, but was seeking future goals.

However, Dmitry Oreshkin, head of the Mercator think tank, said in mid-September that Kasyanov was unlikely "to abandon the presidential race."

Kasyanov, who will turn 50 in December, was the country's prime minister from January 2000 to February 2004. He stated his desire to run for president in 2008 back in 2006.