SHAH ALAM, July 25 — Barisan Nasional and Umno’s Sungai Kandis campaign is not necessarily doomed by the party’s inability to access funds frozen by anti-corruption investigators, said Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The former prime minister said his party will instead use the "friendly” approach to woo voters for BN candidate Datuk Lokman Adam.

"The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission may have frozen Umno’s accounts but that doesn’t mean we are going to lose.

"We are friendly and we are not spending lavishly as you can see from our tents and other arrangements in this election,” he told reporters during a walkabout here.

The former Umno president also rejected the view that his party only championed Malay rights.

"Since Merdeka, and the formation of the constitution, yes, we have fought for all races… assistance more to Malays because they are the majority and left out from jajahan dahulu,” he said, referring to the marginalisation of the Malay community during colonial British rule.

He said he would refrain from preempting the results of the by-election, saying the decision depends on Sungai Kandis voters.

"But from my walkabout today, I notice that many are friendly towards me… this is a large area and various people from various background and this is only my first visit, so let’s see what happens,” he replied when asked to comment on his reception from locals.

The Pekan MP has been charged with criminal wrongdoing and power abuse over misappropriation of billions of ringgit in funds from sovereign investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

The Sungai Kandis by-election is the first poll after the May 9 general election that saw the defeat of the BN coalition and ushered in a new government under Pakatan Harapan.

Najib resigned from all his leadership posts in BN and Umno, except for Pekan, after the stunning election loss.