BN chairperson Najib Abdul Razak said the coalition will not field a candidate for the Bukit Gelugor by-election, following MCA's decision to sit it out.

However, according to Bernama he said discussions are ongoing on whether Independent candidates will be fielded for the May 25 polls.

Asked by the national news agency if BN parties will be fielding candidates, he said, "Not from the components but other parties maybe contest as Independents and so forth. We will decide later."

Najib's remarks from Myanmar comes as Penang Umno laments MCA's decision not to contest.

Its liasion chief Zainal Abidin Osman told Malaysiakini that it had already formed its election machinery to reach out to the 12,000-odd Malay voters in the constituency.

However, he said that the party accepted MCA's decision and believes MCA had weighed the matter carefully.

Yesterday, MCA secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan announced the party will not contest the seat to focus on its anti-hudud campaign.

According to Bernama , Ong today also said that MCA had decided to conserve its energy for other battles, considering the fact that DAP's Karpal Singh won Bukit Gelugor with a majority of more than 40,000 votes.

The seat fell vacant last month when the veteran politician died in a road accident.