Papua New Guinea's former treasurer Don Polye has confirmed that he and his Triumph Heritage Empowerment Party have joined the country's opposition.
However, the newspaper, The National, reports he is refusing to say whether he will vie for the position of opposition leader, dismissing it as not an issue.
Mr Polye says his THE Party remains intact, despite several of its MPs defecting to the Prime Minister Peter O'Neill's People's National Congress.
Mr Polye says those members are technically still members of his party.