However, Burhanuddin's leftist pan-Islamism, under which PAS sought greater ties between the Muslim peoples of Malaya and the Indonesian archipelago, soon led the party into a wedge. Thirteen PAS candidates were elected to the 104-member House of Representatives, and the party took control of the legislative assemblies of the northern states of Kelantan and Terengganu. In the 1959 election, Malaya's first since independence, the party's focus on rural constituencies, especially in the north, paid off. Radical left-wing Islamism īurhanuddin al-Helmy, a prominent anti-colonialist, steered PAS in a socialist and nationalist direction and set about strengthening the party's internal structure and geographic reach. This change exemplified a broader trend among PAS's leadership in the late 1950s: the party's upper echelons gradually became filled with nationalists and long-time UMNO opponents, replacing the UMNO clerics who had initially led the party. Alias stepped down from the presidency in 1956, handing it voluntarily to the radical nationalist Burhanuddin al-Helmy. Its advocacy for the protection of Malay and Muslim rights, including the recognition of Islam as the country's official religion, was ignored. PAS' performance in the election weakened its hand in negotiations with the British over the terms of Malayan independence. He was the only opposition member of the Council the other 51 seats were won by members of the Alliance coalition between UMNO, the Malaysian Chinese Association and the Malaysian Indian Congress. Hampered by a lack of funds and party organisation, PAS succeeded in having only one candidate elected: Ahmad Tuan Hussein, a teacher at an Islamic school in Kerian, Perak. 52 single-member seats were up for election PAS fielded 11 candidates. The party's first electoral test was the pre-independence 1955 election to the Federal Legislative Council, the body that preceded the national parliament. The party turned to Abbas Alias, a Western-educated medical doctor, as its second president, although he did not play an active role in the party and was little more than a nominal figurehead. Fuad's departure coincided with the end of dual membership. He lasted in the position only until 1953, when he fell out of favour with the party, which was now developing a more distinct identity, and returned to the UMNO fold. The party's first president was Ahmad Fuad Hassan, an UMNO cleric. PAS allowed dual membership of both parties, and many of its early senior leaders were also UMNO members. However, the lines between UMNO and the new party were initially blurred. The formation of the party was the culmination of a growing desire among Muslim clerics within the United Malays National Organisation to formalise a discrete Islamic political organisation. PAS was founded on 24 November 1951, as the Persatuan Islam Se-Malaya (Malayan Islamic Organisation). Nevertheless, the party served as a forerunner to PAS, supplying both the ideology upon which PAS was formed and some of PAS's key leaders in its early years. The Malayan Emergency of that year, while a British–Communist dispute, saw the colonial administration arrest a number of the party's leaders, and the nascent group disbanded. However, the party did not live beyond 1948. The central aim of Hizbul Muslimin was the establishment of an independent Malaya as an Islamic state. Out of the MNP arose the Pan-Malayan Supreme Islamic Council in 1947, and MATA in turn formed the party Hizbul Muslimin ( Muslim People's Party of Malaya) in 1948. The Malay Nationalist Party, a left-wing nationalist organisation, was formed in 1945 and led by Burhanuddin al-Helmy, who would later become the president of PAS. The post-World War II period, while Malaya was still under British colonial rule, saw the emergence of the country's first formal Islamic political movements. 5.3.1 Malaysian State Assembly Representatives.5.3 Dewan Undangan Negeri (State Legislative Assembly).5.2.1 Members of Parliament of the 14th Malaysian Parliament.5.2 Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives).2.1 Ties and linkages with the Muslim Brotherhood.1.9 Renewed co-operation with UMNO and joining Perikatan Nasional.1.8 Leaving Pakatan Rakyat and forming Gagasan Sejahtera.318-A, Jalan Raja Laut, 50350 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) 24 November 1951 (as Malayan Islamic Organisation)