Sentence Equivalence- The future of the accord was uncertain

[shudha.b]

The future of the accord was uncertain as desires to mitigate constituents’ frustrations with previous votes along party lines were balanced with seemingly__________ beliefs.

intractable
inerrant
fickle
tenebrous
pertinacious
ineffable

The correct answer is intractable and pertinacious.

But I am unable to understand the exact meaning of the sentence. I feel fickle and tenebrous are a better match.
My filler word was weak, ie. not very strong beliefs. So fickle means we are unsure or even confused toTenebrous also been obfuscating or confusing, not clear.

Can you please explain? Where did I go wrong?

Regards

[tommywallach]

The future of the accord was uncertain -- This part is pretty clear. We don't know if this treaty/agreement is going to work. The rest of the sentence should tell us the problem.

as desires to mitigate constituents’ frustrations with previous votes along party lines -- Okay. There is a desire to mitigate a frustration. In other words, we're trying to fix a problem. But we still don't know what it is until we get to the end of the sentence: "previous votes along party lines." There's the problem. People are voting straight down the line. We want to FIX that, and make people vote OUTSIDE of their party...

were balanced -- but now the trouble, something conflicts with people's ability to vote OUTSIDE of their party line

with seemingly__________ beliefs --> The thing that keeps people voting inside the party lines is that their beliefs are DIFFICULT/IMPOSSIBLE TO CHANGE. That gets us to the two correct answers.

Hope that helps!

-t