A senior Amanah leader has accused PKR of back-stabbing, hypocrisy and political prostitution, in what appears to be tensions between the two parties threatening to emerge into the open.

This comes after three Amanah assemblymen in Johor crossed over to PKR, bringing to five the number of elected representatives who have quit Amanah, the smallest partner of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition.

Amanah’s Youth leader Shazni Munir Ithnin said it reeked of hypocrisy for PKR to accept the new members on the same day that its top leadership had condemned alleged attempts by the ruling bloc to buy its MPs.

“We hereby remind PKR not to be hypocritical and speak with forked tongues. PKR president Anwar Ibrahim must enforce the resolve to reject party-hopping within component parties that clearly benefits one party and harms the other. Such politics of back-stabbing should not be encouraged,” Shazni said in the strongest reaction yet by an Amanah leader since the party began losing its assemblymen to PKR late last year.

It is learnt that three Amanah assemblymen in Johor – Khairuddin A Rahim (Senggarang), Faizul Amri Adnan (Serom) and Muhamad Said Jonit (Mahkota) – have had their applications to join PKR accepted.

They join two other Amanah assemblymen from Selangor – Mohd Fakhrulrazi Mohd Mokhtar (Meru) and Ahmad Mustain Othman (Sabak) – who crossed over to PKR last year.

Yesterday, Amanah deputy president Salahuddin Ayub said it was not proper for PKR to accept its assemblymen, adding that it was against the spirit of cooperation in PH.

The development came amid speculation that several MPs from PKR were ready to declare their support for the Perikatan Nasional government, drawing an angry response from PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution who spoke of attempts to intimidate and induce its MPs.

Shazni said it was ironic for PKR to accept the three new members, adding that Amanah had protested using internal channels when their Selangor assemblymen joined PKR last year.

Meanwhile, Amanah’s Bukit Bintang division in Kuala Lumpur is urging the central leadership to re-evaluate the party’s ties with PKR.

“The action shows there is no unity in the coalition,” it said.