COMMENT | PAS’ 71st Annual Congress, scheduled from Sept 11 to 16, 2025, will take place at the PAS Complex in Kedah, Kota Sarang Semut, Alor Setar.

This year’s congress has drawn the attention of both media and political analysts, as PAS is expected to make several key decisions, particularly regarding Perikatan Nasional’s internal crisis ahead of the 16th general election.

A brief glance at PAS’ history: founded on Nov 24, 1951, as the Pan-Malayan Islamic Association during a meeting in Butterworth, Penang, it was soon renamed the Pan-Malayan Islamic Party (its original name).

In its early days, PAS was seen as a Malay party championing Islamic affairs beyond what Umno offered.

Backed by religious scholars, PAS became the party of choice for Malays with religious education before joining the BN coalition in June 1974.

However, PAS left BN following the 1978 emergency crisis in Kelantan. The party then took a long time to regroup its struggles.