The Rompin and Permatang Pauh by-elections may be held simultaneously, Election Commission chief Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said.

"There is a very big possibility (it will be held) simultaneously, concurrently but you have to wait till Friday," he told reporters at a press conference in Putrajaya today.

Friday is when the EC will announce the date for the Rompin by-election.

Abdul Aziz said the possibility of simultaneous polls is due to the fact that both seats were vacated within a short period of one another.

“If you look at when the seats were vacated, it’s very close,” he said.

The parliamentary seat in Pahang fell vacant after its incumbent Jamaluddin Jarjis perished in a helicopter crash on April 4.

Earlier, Abdul Aziz announced that the Permatang Pauh by-election would be held on May 7, with nomination day on April 25.

The Permatang Pauh seat was declared vacant by Dewan Rakyat speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia, after jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim failed to get a royal pardon.

Jamaluddin was killed along with five others, when the helicopter he was on crashed last Saturday near Semenyih.

During the 13th general election, he retained the Rompin seat he had held for 23 years by beating former PAS Wanita chief Nuridah Mohd Salleh by a 15,114-vote majority.