On 4 March 2020, Afif Bahardin from PKR resigned from his position in Penang State Executive Council. He stated that he was pressured by the party's state and central leadership to resign from his post. Afif is a known supporter of Azmin Ali while the latter was still the party's deputy president. PKR's Norlela Ariffin was appointed as the new state councillor and was sworn in on 12 March in front of the Yang Dipertua Negeri, Abdul Rahman Abbas. Also PKR assemblyman from Pemanis, Chong Fat Full formally announced his exit from his party to become a Perikatan-friendly independent, thus resulting in Perikatan Nasional effectively controlling 29 seats in the state assembly against Harapan's 27.