Fiji's ousted Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry, says Sitiveni Rabuka is struggling for his own political survival.
Mr Chaudhry says the former Prime Minister, who has resigned as president of the SVT party, should not be trying to curry favour with the ruling SDL party.
He says he should accept he has lost his mana - and bow out of politics.
"His behaviour has been quite bizarre lately and his latest move I think is for his own political survival. He's wanting to join the SDL and I think there are elements within the SDL which have reservations about him."
The Fiji Times has quoted Mr Rabuka as saying he decided to resign from the SVT because he had failed to bring it to a bigger coalition.
Mr Rabuka has also said he will turn down the offer of a diplomatic post as ambassador to the United States because it might embarrass the government.
