Gorby may as well have claimed to be "taking time off to be with his family."

This comes from the St. Petersburg Times:

Gorbachev Quits Social Democrat Party
THE ST. PETERSBURG TIMES

MOSCOW -Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has resigned as leader of the small Social Democratic Party of Russia (SDPR) after falling out with its chairman, Samara governor Konstantin Titov.

Gorbachev announced his resignation at a meeting of the party's Political Council in Moscow Saturday after "losing political and human faith" in Titov, a source in the party quoted Gorbachev as saying.

The source said that Gorbachev praised the initial progress made since the party's registration in 2002, but then attacked Titov's behavior ahead of last year's State Duma elections, Interfax reported. During the run-up to the December elections, "intrigues emerged, some project, which boiled down to Titov trying to privatize the party," the source quoted Gorbachev as saying.

SDPR failed to either collect the required 200,000 signatures for the December 2003 elections or pay the 37.5 million-ruble ($1.25 million) fee to get on the party list ballot. Despite his resignation, the former Soviet leader decided to stay on in the party, but warned that the SDPR will not "develop properly" if his criticism is not heeded. SDPR's next congress in September is expected to confirm Gorbachev's resignation.

Titov responded to Gorbachev's criticism Sunday by noting that all but two members of the Political Council voted for the former Soviet president's resignation. The council has 29 members, according to SDPR's official web site.

Titov said his differences with Gorbachev were "more personal than public."