Its leader was clapped in jail, its ballot symbol erased and its candidates were forced to run as independents, and yet the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan shockingly pulled ahead of its two biggest rivals in last week’s election.

Although Pakistan’s powerful army did not conceal its desire to end Khan’s political career, many voters clearly had other ideas. In the process, they delivered an unprecedented and shocking rebuke to the military brass who have exerted inordinate influence over the country’s fate since its birth in 1947.

In often dysfunctional Pakistan, citizens have typically seen the army as not just the only functional and trustworthy institution, but also the repository, interpreter and defender of the country’s founding values. The military has constantly meddled in democracy: Nawaz Sharif, who has been prime minister three times and still leads the party likely to head the next governing coalition, has been driven out of power by the army every single time. Usually, the population acquiesces quietly. The uniforms, they seem to think, know best.