 In 2003, Gorbachev's party merged with the Social Democratic Party to form the Social Democratic Party of Russia, which faced much internal division and failed to gain traction with voters.Gorbachev resigned as party leader in May 2004 following a disagreement with the party's chairman over the direction taken in the 2003 election campaign.The party was later banned in 2007 by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation due to its failure to establish local offices with at least 500 members in the majority of Russian regions, which is required by Russian law for a political organization to be listed as a party.