Amanah Secretary-General Anuar Tahir said party-hopping happened during every election.

The six members – led by former Sungai Besar Amanah pro-tem deputy chief Mohd Sapigni Tulus – breached the party’s rules when they backed its rivals.

“We wouldn’t be angry if they told us they wanted to switch parties. We would welcome the move.

“We would even thank them for their contributions to the party,” he told a press conference at Sungai Besar Amanah office today.

On Tuesday, six Amanah leaders declared they had lost faith in the party leadership following their decision to field Azhar Abdul Shukur in the by-election.

The six went on to describe Azhar as a “parachute” candidate.

Sapigni also alleged he represented 31 other members who were unhappy that their demands to field a more capable candidate fell on deaf ears.

He also claimed that Azhar was not a local as he was a voter in Temerloh and lived in Pahang.

Annuar, however, insisted that these factors had nothing to do with Azhar’s candidacy.

“Living, working and marrying someone from Temerloh is not an issue.

“The most important part here is he is a local and he is the son of a former state representative.

“It is incorrect to say that he is a parachute candidate as he is a Sungai Besar Amanah division chief.

“We took a long time to decide on the candidate.”