Johor PKR chief Hassan Karim said PH already held a comfortable majority in the state assembly with 36 out of 56 seats before the trio’s entry.

The three reps – Rasman Ithnain (Sedili), Roslaily Johari (Johor Lama) and Alwiyah Talib (Endau) – resigned from Umno several days after the May 9 polls.

“Johor PKR regrets the action of its partner component party PPBM of accepting ex-Umno leaders into the PH fold,” Hassan said in a statement.

“It is not our intent to meddle with the matters of PPBM, but the entry of the three former Umno reps has caused unease and misunderstanding among the Johor voters who gave PH the mandate in the recent polls.”

The Johor PKR division previously spoke out against the acceptance of former Umno or Barisan Nasional (BN) members, with its deputy chief Jimmy Puah saying PH should uphold the spirit of the reform agenda.

This followed reports that at least 40 Umno MPs would cross over to PPBM, according to the party’s Supreme Council member A Kadir Jasin.

The PH leadership said then that its presidential council would look into their entry.

Of the 56 seats in the Johor assembly, DAP has 14; Amanah, nine; and PKR, five. The trio’s entry into PPBM brings the party’s total number of seats to 11.

Forming the opposition is BN, with 16 members (14 Umno and two MIC). PAS meanwhile has one seat.