KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 — PAS warned journalists today that they will be banned from its muktamar next month if their coverage of the party election is unfavourable.

The Islamist opposition party, which will see a contest for the presidency for the first time in more than 50 years, told the press to report the muktamar in a trustworthy manner and urged against spinning.

“If we find that there are any news which should not have been reported and which result in a negative impact in the opinion of the PAS central committee, the secretariat reserves the right to withdraw approval for coverage from the relevant media organisation AT ANY TIME without compromise,” the PAS information and muktamar media committee said in its list of rules for media workers.

PAS also imposed a dress code for media workers: women are prohibited from wearing sleeveless T-shirts, tight clothing, or skirts with slits, while headscarves are “highly encouraged”.

Men are prohibited from wearing patterned shirts or shirts with “impolite” quotes.

The three-day muktamar, which starts on June 4 in Kuala Selangor, will see former PAS vice-president Ahmad Awang taking on incumbent Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang for the top post.