The debacle in Islamabad.

After Nowshera, Rawalpindi. This should lead the ruling party to do a lot of soul searching. In the most hotly contested Senate election, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's candidate Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has been defeated by the Pakistan Democratic Movement's Yousuf Raza Gilani. Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry had earlier claimed that Shaikh would get over 180 votes, but the finance minister ended up with 164, losing the election by five votes.

There were already reports in the media of widespread resentment among PTI legislators over the allotment of ticket to a man who had no affiliation with the party and was sure to leave the country after losing his job. Some of the dissenters had come out into the open. Sensing the danger, Prime Minister Imran Khan had set aside all official activities to personally canvass for his finance minister. That even the PTI chief failed to persuade the dissidents indicates the depth of resentment against Shaikh.

Many would interpret the debacle as a rebellion against the decisions taken by the party leadership without caring for the party workers' opinions, which is unfortunately all too common among the country's major political parties. The dissidents have not only voted against Shaikh but...