The Lower House of Parliament on Wednesday rejected the national unity government's nomination of Anisa Rassouli to the Supreme Court. With her hopes of becoming the first female judge of Afghanistan's Supreme Court seemingly dashed, Ms. Rassouli on Thursday accused lawmakers of gender discrimination.

Rassouli says that MPs biased attitudes toward women were the primary factor in halting her nomination. However, lawmakers have also pointed to the absence of at least 20 female MPs on the day of voting as part of the reason Rassouli did not get the votes she needed.

Rassouli received 88 votes in favor, but required 94 votes to get approved as a a senior judge of the Supreme Court. In total, there were 192 MPs present for the vote of confidence.

The female judicial nominee was introduced to Parliament about two weeks ago. During his 2014 presidential campaign, President Ashraf Ghani had promised to get the country's first female judge appointed to the Supreme Court.

"What the House of Representatives did with me on Wednesday is interesting," Rassouli said on Thursday. "The decision that failed to get me to the Supreme Court was discriminatory," she added.

A number of MPs have joined Rassouli in criticizing the way Parliament's leaders handled the nomination. "What the lawmakers did with this woman [Anisa Rassouli] during Wednesday's session is questionable," MP Fawzia Kofi said. "If 15 out of the total number of 20 absent MPs were present during the voting, with just ten of them in favor, Anisa Rassouli would now be a member of the Supreme Court."

Rassouli currently serves as the head of the Women's Lawyer Association at the Kabul Appeals Court, and she has vowed to continue working for justice regardless of the fate of her nomination.

Women's rights activists have also taken issue with the manner in which Rassouli's vote of confidence was handled by the legislature. Some, such as Alima, have pointed out that many of the MPs who voted against Rassouli were women. "Women's rights activists were shocked by the decision, given half of the voters were female lawmakers and how they can justify their work while not voting for a female nominee for the Supreme Court," she told TOLOnews. "We will continue our work to get a female member of the Supreme Court."

The Ministry of Women Affairs (MoWA) has echoed the denouncements of Parliaments vote, calling the decision an attempt to sabotage the advancement of gender equality in Afghanistan. The ministry called on President Ghani to introduce another female nominee for the Supreme Court seat.