It's a sham, but not necessarily a bad thing. Spain's longest "democratic" spell was a completely corrupt, sham system of scripted alternance between two parties.

Wikipedia: History of Spain

The Restoration (1874-1931)

A system of turnos was established in Spain in which the liberals, led by Práxedes Mateo Sagasta and the conservatives, led by Antonio Canovas del Castillo, alternated in control of the government. A modicum of stability and economic progress was restored to Spain during Alfonso XII's rule. His death in 1885, followed by the assassination of Canovas del Castillo in 1897, destabilized the government.

From Spain under the Restoration

The two parties alternated in the government in a controlled process known as el turno pacífico: the Liberal Party led by Sagasta and the Conservative Party led by Cánovas del Castillo. The caciques, local powerful men, were used to manipulate election results and because of this, resentment to the system slowly built up over time, and important nationalist movements in Catalonia and the Basque Country, as well as unions, started to form.

It'd be nice if the battle were only against the right wingers, not half of the left on top of that — François in Paris

My other sources were a bit vague about who would be heading up which party - only suggesting Putin would head the opposition party.  Since UR is the one currently in power, that would make Just Russia the opposition party, and despite not really doing a lot of opposing, that's how they've defined themselves.   Plus Putin's been critical of UR in the past.  On the other hand, UR is itself a fabrication - not really a platform beyond getting Putin or Medvedev elected...  Who knows.  I just can't help but think some of this 2 party (like Republicans v. Democrats) talk doesn't translate easily into reality.  Not to mention I'm not keen on trying to understand Russian politics through the frame of America's.  Liberal and conservative have different meanings there, the communists still have support, and there aren't explicitly clear lines between all of the parties.  It might just be me, but in the bigger picture, if Medvedev turns out to be the warm fuzzy liberal teddy bear everyone's chattering about, I think it would be a matter of political evolution, a response to necessity and reflection of new possibility, rather than some clean ideological split with Putin.   Putin and Medvedev seem to be pragmatists, not ideologues, unlike the communists or Other Russia types.  It seems to me that if they were each other's competition, the debates would be about angels on pinheads..

Really, though, I have no idea what will happen and no desire to get into fortune-telling, nor do I presume to know what goes on inside the Kremlin...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Russia

Come, my friends, 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.