I refer to the Malaysiakini report Tearing up Rashid’s photo: PM mulls action.

The latest incident involving several Bersih leaders tearing up pictures of Election Commission (EC) chairperson Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman signal a very worrying scenario in anticipating a fair and free election.

My concern is not over the incident because it was obvious that such an act represented a sense of dissatisfaction with Rashid's response to the electoral reform. But what really worries me most is Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s reaction to this act, since it clearly indicates the government's stone-cold attitude towards the bigger issue at stake.

The PM should resort to the ‘attributive theory’ notion by asking himself, sincerely, why the act took place and for what reasons. Would sound people at a serious, objective occasion entertain such behavior? Surely they must have a good reason for doing so.

As if the act of tearing is not enough, what about the Bersih gathering that took place in November? Didn't it send some serious messages to the PM? A strange reaction, isn't it? The more pressure a civilised group puts on the government, the more stone-hearted the government gets.

My worry is that the upcoming general elections will still remain unfair and, as a result, the outcome of the election will be deemed questionable. Who will be blamed if the situation gets out of hand because more educated voters feel that their votes were being rigged and robbed?

If even before the election the EC cannot be trusted, how on earth are we going to believe in the chairperson during the process of an election and after it? It bewilders me that the PM of Islam Hadhari (Arabic, meaning civilised) did not understand the signal? As a Hadhari PM, the message should have been clearly heard since the mammoth Bersih gathering. But what was the PM's response?

As usual, we heard the famous quotation of the BN leaders: ‘Work within the system, don't go out of the system’. Our response to this is: ‘How can a system work if it is corrupted and dysfunctional? Get out and create a new system!’

As if the signal is not strong enough, our friends in Kenya are now suffering from anarchy and chaos. Does it not bother the PM to know that the current situation in Kenya is due to voter dissatisfaction with an election that was rigged and robbed by the Kenyan EC?

So please, my dear PM, I still hope your future responses will be appropriate because, if not, I shall consider your premiership and your party in the government to be down the drain – a sad ending for the beginning of the new system.

The writer is chairperson, PAS National Unity Committee.