Seemingly as a gesture in reply to demands by women organizations to nominate female candidates for the forthcoming elections, Prime Minister Saad Hariri is considering, according to Al Diyar, the nomination of a woman candidate (one only!) for a parliamentary seat in Beirut. The newspaper added that Hariri is working on selecting a woman candidate with a strong social and humanitarian background and good network within Beiruti families, so as to run on the electoral list of Beirut 2nd Constituency. In the same vein, President Michel Aoun signed yesterday (January 22, 2018) a decree calling on the electorate (Decree No. 2219) to elect members of Parliament, noting that it becomes effective as soon as it is published in the Official Gazette. The text of the decree read: the Lebanese voters on all Lebanese territory will cast their ballot on Sunday, May 6, 2018, employees participating in the electoral process on May 3, Lebanese expats in Arab countries on April 27 and expats in the Americas, Europe and Africa on April 29. (Al Diyar, An Nahar, January 23, 2018)