The 14th general election saw PAS field a total of 158 candidates for Parliament and 390 candidates for various legislative assemblies, the largest-ever contingent from a single party.

Despite PAS' low win rate, its large pool of candidates – which included a handful from Parti Ikatan Bangsa Malaysia (Ikatan) and the Pan Malaysia Islamic Front (Berjasa) – captured a 16.7 percent vote share.

Former premier Najib Abdul Razak, who led BN to its worst defeat ever, had recently claimed that PAS' ambitious election efforts were part of his "strategy" to split the opposition vote...