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. The President must have realised by now the futility of depending on foreign friends to keep him in power. Washington has abandoned its protgs like the Shah of Iran and Field Martial Ayub Khan without a qualm of conscience once they had fulfilled the task given to them and had become unpopular in the process. President Musharraf's foreign allies have realised that it is not possible for them to pressure an elected government to allow him to retain his office. What some of them would like now is to seek a safe exit for him. Interestingly none has indicated willingness to provide him asylum. Meanwhile public pressure for President Musharraf's impeachment continues to mount. Despite a strong section of the ruling alliance wanting to put him on trial on a number of charges after the impeachment, Mian Nawaz Sharif has reportedly told Britain's Director General Political Directorate Mark Lyall Grant, who called on him on Wednesday, that it was better for the President to resign immediately to avoid court cases. This is a realistic advice. Attempts at bargaining at this stage are likely to create more problems for him. After indulging in political activity for nine years he should be able to realise that politics is after all the art of the possible.