Mikhail D. Prokhorov, the Russian billionaire and owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team, announced on Monday that he would lead a liberal Russian political party with close ties to the Kremlin.

The decision, seven months before parliamentary elections, seems to be part of a Kremlin effort to provide an alternative for Russians disaffected with the country’s dominant political party, United Russia, while still ensuring continued support for the ruling authorities.

The party that Mr. Prokhorov will lead, Right Cause, generally espouses pro-Western, liberal views in tune with those of the business and intellectual elite in Moscow and St. Petersburg.