However, he told FMT, there might be a backlash from some PKR leaders.
The former academic said PKR was currently relying only on its president, Anwar Ibrahim, to woo rural Malay voters and it was hard for the party to draw those votes away from PAS and Umno because the strength of its other leaders was in mixed urban areas.
He said Amanah could help it draw rural voters who found PAS’ “extreme religious views” unattractive.
Furthermore, he alleged, PAS had shown over the past two years that despite being in the government, it was “unable to run the country”.
Yesterday, Anwar said a proposal for PKR and Amanah to merge had been made although the two parties had yet to have any formal discussion on the matter.
Azmi said Umno would be uneasy with a PKR-Amanah merger as it could lead to a depletion of its vote bank in rural areas.
He also said a merger would minimise seat allocation problems and give PKR a stronger hand to withstand pressure from DAP.
However, he added, Anwar needed to be prepared for a backlash from PKR leaders who might fear that Amanah might take away crucial party positions from them.
Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs said the two parties faced the same problem in convincing the “increasingly conservative” Malay voters to support them.
He warned of a backlash against Anwar from non-Malay PKR supporters as well as some conservative Amanah supporters because of a difference in the ideologies the two parties subscribe to.
A PKR insider told FMT a merger could cause a rift as party veterans backing Anwar since 1998 might feel sidelined.
He said: “What about the deputy president’s post? Will the position be given to a PKR veteran or an Amanah leader?”
He also said there was a fear that Amanah might ask for winnable seats from PKR.
“If Amanah can attract rural voters, it doesn’t need to merge with PKR,” he said. “If it is strong, it can do it on its own.
“A merger happens when one party is weak and here Amanah is weak. Would it accept the merger without making any demands?”