BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Former President Carlos Menem said he will make a long-shot bid to regain the Argentine presidency in October's election.

Menem, who ruled from 1989 to 1999 as leader of the Peronist Party, told reporters Thursday he will run with his newly founded Loyalty and Dignity Party. He has broken with the Peronists, now led by incumbent President Nestor Kirchner.

Most opinion polls give Menem, 76, little chance with just around 5 percent of the vote.

Menem recently announced he had separated from his Chilean wife, former Miss Universe Cecilia Bolocco, who caused an uproar when photographs were published of her kissing and sunbathing topless with an Italian friend in Miami. Menem said the separation occurred before the photos appeared.

"It is not for me to interfere with what she does," he said.

Menem and Bolocco married in 2001 after meeting when Bolocco interviewed him for a Chilean television program. They have a 3-year-old son, Maximo.