As the Pakistan election date nears, the Pakistan Stock Exchange shows its worst June performance in nearly two decades.

A report about stock index manipulation suggests that the elections in Pakistan may have a negative impact on stock returns. Nearly a year after Pakistan was proclaimed the top-performing market in Asia with a staggering 46% return, political events in the country have cast a shadow over the landmark Pakistan Stock Exchange success.

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About a year ahead of the Pakistan election date, which is in the summer of 2018, the Pakistan Stock Exchange continues to struggle due to political events, with the KSE-100 Index finishing below the45,000-point level on Thursday.

In May, the KSE-100 index skyrocketed 400 points to reach the 52,700 level at the open amid the news that Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) upgraded the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) to Emerging Market status for the first time in over nine years. While the upgrade opened the door for global investors that track the index with $1.4 trillion to $1.7 trillion in hand, the stock index is now falling steadily, and experts say political events are to blame.

Why does the Pakistan Stock Exchange “hate” the Pakistan election date?

It’s a little more than a year before the Pakistan election date in 2018, so the Pakistan Stock Exchange may have begun reacting to political uncertainty early. It’s not just the uncertainty over the upcoming election in 2018 but also the ongoing Panama case investigating Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s alleged ties to corruption.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange is also believed to be underperforming due to external account deterioration and as a consequence of the government’s federal budget for fiscal year 2018. In the new budget, the government ignored key proposals from the Pakistan Stock Exchange and instead enforced stricter tax measures on investors and companies.