MALACCA POLLS | For PAS, making electoral inroads in Malacca beyond its east coast base in Peninsular Malaysia has been an unattainable dream for decades.

It managed to briefly pull off the seemingly impossible in the 2013 general election when it formed an alliance with PKR and DAP under Pakatan Rakyat, capturing the relatively urbanised seat of Bukit Baru - now known as Bukit Katil.

Buoyed by a diverse support base, PAS picked up the seat – the only seat it had won in Malacca - by only 48 votes. But the seat was lost after PAS decided to go it alone in the 2018 general election and pivot to a Malay-Muslim narrative.

In most seats, PAS was not able to garner more than 15 percent of...