A fresh bout of turbulence hit the ailing Turkish economy May 6, when the Higher Election Board quashed the opposition victory in the March 31 mayoral race in Istanbul, fueling fears that Turkey’s rulers are no longer committed to ceding power through elections. The turbulence is likely to continue until, and perhaps beyond, the election rerun, scheduled for June 23.

A series of elections in recent years have increased the fragility of Turkey’s faltering economy, which badly needs structural reform. The presidential and parliamentary balloting in June 2018 and the local elections on March 31, however, have led Ankara to pursue populist measures instead of focusing on reform.

Many had hoped that the aftermath of the local elections would bring a transition to an overhaul program, including a tightening of monetary and fiscal policies. Instead, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its Nationalist Movement Party allies objected to the Istanbul victory of Ekrem Imamoglu of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), leading to 35 days of wait-and-see for the economy. Eventually, under pressure from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the election board made the unprecedented decision of voiding the result — a move that many consider a “massacre of law” — and scheduled another vote for June 23, setting the stage for full-fledged turbulence.

The Turkish lira nosedived as soon as the decision was announced. It has continued to lose value ever since, despite interventions to curb its fall. The lira, which traded for less than 6 per dollar ahead of the decision, hit 6.24 against the greenback at noon on May 9, its weakest level in eight months.