Clearing the decks

THERE was no MPA available to defend President Musharraf when the Sindh Assembly met to take up the issue of his impeachment. Amid slogans of "Go Musharaf Go" the House passed a unanimous resolution calling on him to seek vote of confidence or resign. After the Balochistan Assembly undertakes a similar exercise today decks would be cleared for initiating the impeachment proceedings by presenting a charge sheet against him in the National Assembly. With the numbers on the side of the ruling coalition, there can hardly be two opinions about the outcome. Finally sensing that he was in a tight corner, the President has called for reconciliation as the country was "passing through a very critical moment in its history." Many would agree that the realisation has come rather late. Had he quietly resigned or made overtures for reconciliation soon after the elections, widely considered a vote of no confidence against his policies, the ongoing confrontation could have been avoided. What he did instead after recovering from the initial shock, which took a couple of months, was to bring together his supporters and with their consent initiate a propaganda campaign against the four-month-old elected government targeting its economic performance and its policy of resolving the issue of extremism through negotiations with the militants particularly in Balochistan. Instead of acting as an impartial head of state, President Musharraf virtually cast himself into the role of the leader of the opposition.