GE14 | PAS' 14th general election challenge will see the party fielding candidates in more than 150 out of 222 parliamentary seats and a majority of the 587 state seats, excluding Sarawak.

This is the largest number of seats to be contested by any one political party in the country, as it even exceeds Umno's count of 121 parliament seats in the last 13th general election.

According to PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan, the party's 12-member committee, comprising representatives of its wings, had met in Penang last night and finalised up to 95 percent of its candidates.

"The official announcement for all candidates will be done simultaneously on April 19, except for Sabah and Sarawak (April 21) and Kelantan (April 25)," said Takiyuddin in a statement.

Takiyuddin said the meeting, chaired by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, had also accepted an application by former Wanita Umno vice-chief Kamilia Ibrahim to be its lifetime member.

After breaking ranks with Pakatan Harapan, PAS had formed its Gagasan Sejahtera pact with Parti Ikatan Bangsa Malaysia and Parti Cinta Malaysia, supported by some 200 NGOs.

Hadi had in the past predicted that no single party would get enough seats to form the next government, and said the Islamist party was in a good position as 'kingmaker' to make demands if it could win at least 40 Parliament seats.

PAS critics, including Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad, have mocked the party's plans and predicted that the PAS candidates would be wiped out in the coming May 9 election.

In the 13th general election, PAS contested a total of 65 parliamentary seats and won 21, six of which are now held by Amanah.