The Permatang Pauh Parliamentary by-election will be held on May 7, the Election Commission announced today.

Polling day falls on a Thursday. Nomination day has been set for April 25, and early voting will he held on May 3.

Dewan Rakyat speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia had announced that the seat fell vacant last week.

This follows the Pardons Board decision to reject incumbent Anwar Ibrahim's pardon application.

Anwar is currently serving a five years jail term for sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan in 2008.

EC chairperson Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said the contest will cost almost RM2 million to organise.

“This by-election will require an estimated budget of RM1.97 million,” he told reporters at a press conference in Putrajaya.

There are 71,890 registered voters in Permatang Pauh, 627 of whom are early voters.

In the 2013 general election, Anwar won the seat with an 11,721 vote majority over Umno candidate Mazlan Ismail and Independent Abdullah Zawawi Samsudin.

Anwar’s wife, PKR president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, has also held the seat from 1999 till 2008 while Anwar was serving another jail term for sodomy and corruption.