SELANGOR — In Malaysia’s wealthiest state of Selangor, the divide between rural and urban voters appears to be blurring, as the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition and the opposition embarked on targeted campaigns over the last fortnight to win over the respective groups.

On April 22, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Razak — who pledged to win back the opposition-held state when he became the BN’s Selangor election director in February — started his campaign trail in Selangor by touring its urban centres.

On the same day, the opposition’s de factor leader Anwar Ibrahim took his campaign to Selangor’s coastal farming belt where the BN retains an iron grip. Going into the elections, the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition controlled 35 out of 56 Selangor state seats.

Earlier this week, TODAY visited rural areas such as Sabak Bernam and Kuala Selangor and found that while support for the BN remained strong among the voters there, the opposition’s rhetoric appeared to be making inroads into the traditional BN vote bank. Political analysts attributed this to factors such as increased mobility among rural dwellers and access to information.

While rural voters TODAY spoke to were mainly concerned about improving their livelihoods and making ends meet, and many were convinced only BN had the resources to do so, several bought into the opposition’s call for change and better governance. For this group, change is appealing despite what they say is the opposition’s patchy record in governance in the state and some districts over the last five years.

“Citizens want to change the government. They are in power for 50 over years already,” said furniture shop owner Mr Mahamani, 61. “We want to give them (opposition) a chance for five years. If they don’t perform, we’ll change back to BN.”

While oil palm plantation supervisor Mr Muhammad, 54, described Selangor as “in good shape” under caretaker Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, Bukit Melawati resident L Sivasuvramaniam, 47, a businessman, lamented that the local town council under the opposition’s watch has been ignoring basic needs such as cleaning services and grass-cutting.

And some of the villagers believe that only the BN, with its vast resources, “can get things done”, as Mr Apu, an oil palm plantation supervisor, put it. The 43-year-old Permatang resident wants better lighting on the roads and improved drainage to prevent floods and he believes only the BN could deliver these improvements.

S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) Senior Fellow Oh Ei Sun, who was formerly Mr Najib’s Political Secretary, said the urban-rural divide was blurring “only in those more industrialised states, such as Selangor and Penang”. Said Dr Oh: “This is because the degree of urbanisation in these richer states are such that even many of those who still stay in traditionally rural areas ... are now working in urban centres.”

However, for rural places that are still lacking infrastructure such as roads, water and electricity, “BN is undoubtedly in a better incumbent position to deliver these sorely needed amenities”, he said.

Institute of South-east Asian Studies Deputy Director Ooi Kee Beng said “communications infrastructure ... has shrunk the country”.

Pointing out that most Malaysians “do not live very far away from an urban centre”, he said: “The difference (between urban and rural voters) requires that rural people actually live quite separated from the influences and problems that affect urban people, and vice versa. This is less and less the case.”