JOHOR BARU, Nov 26 — Johor PKR today expressed its regret with ally Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) which agreed to take in three state lawmakers formerly from Umno.

Johor PKR chairman Hassan Abdul Karim said his party does not intend to meddle with the internal affairs of its coalition partner, but claimed PPBM’s acceptance of Sedili assemblyman Rasman Ithnain, Johor Lama assemblyman Rosleli Jahari, and Endau assemblyman Alawiyah Talib would impact the Pakatan Harapan (PH) reform agenda.

“Generally, the people voted for PH to overthrow Barisan Nasional (BN), hoping that we can implement the reform agenda.

“Reform that is fresh, comprehensive and for a new Malaysia without Umno or BN,” Hassan said in a statement.

He claimed the trio’s entry into PH could be seen as a betrayal of their mandate as the public had voted for change in the May elections.

“The participation of three former Umno leaders does not give any benefit to PH in Johor because we have a fairly comfortable majority in the State Legislative Assembly (36 seats) and should be able to administer well without assistance any of the previous ruling coalition’s leaders,” he added.

On May 12, just days after the PH coalition seized power from BN and formed the state government, the three assemblymen had announced that they were leaving Umno to join PPBM for the sake of their constituents.

The move did not go down well with the other component parties from the state PH as the trio were previously known to be staunch Umno members who lacked any understanding of the PH reform agenda.

Rasman was the former Kota Tinggi Umno deputy division chief. Rosleli, formerly the division’s secretary, was closely aligned to the Kota Tinggi Umno division chief and businessman Datuk Daing A. Malek Daing A. Rahman.

Alawiyah, on the other hand, was Mersing Umno Wanita chief. She was linked to the party’s former BN strongman and ex-state executive councillor Datuk Abd Latif Bandi, who has been charged with 21 counts of money laundering amounting to RM35.78 million in connection with the Johor land scandal that broke out last year.

The trio’s defection saw the PH-led state government having 39 seats compared to BN’s 16 seats and PAS having one seat in the Johor state assembly.