News sources revealed that despite previous declared positions, the LF was among the staunchest opponents of endorsing women’s quota, while Hezbollah not in favor but in yj case adoped by the government was intending to express reservations on the matter during the Parliamentary session. Moreover, the retraction of political parties from their previous promises to endorse the quota triggered strong criticisms from feminist and civil society groups. In this respect, ‘Women in Front’ reminded in a statement yesterday of all the documented pledges made by politicians to support women’s representation, namely House Speaker Nabih Berri. The coordinator of Future Movement’s Women Division, May Tabbal, said that the majority of women associations in the country were optimistic about reaching the requested quota, describing what happened as a new setback to women's right. Similarly, The Gathering for the Republic considered that blocking the participation of women in Parliament is a serious setback, and appealed to all political forces to engage women in politics with or without legislation. On the official level, the minister of state for administrative development affairs, Inaya Ezzideen, disclosed to Al Mustaqbal newspaper that she voiced her strong opposition for not including the quota in the electoral law, describing this as a missed historic opportunity. “Justifications made during the session were not convincing,” Ezzideen noted. For his part Kataeb Party president, Sami Gemayel, declared that authorities had no convincing reason not to approve the quota. (Lebanon 24, Al Mustaqbal, June 15 and 16, 2017)