Lebanon’s financial issues are not the only thing at stake these days. The Lebanese state’s entire existence and the legitimacy of the legislative authority represented by the parliament stand before the judiciary.

In the coming weeks, the Lebanese state will face a tough test. The only two options it has are inconvenient and rather bitter: Either the Constitutional Council falls in the trap of accepting the cancelation of the parliamentary elections or the Lebanese parliament falls. These are the two possibilities imposed by November’s developments, both legislatively and judicially.

The issue started Nov. 5 when the Lebanese parliament approved a law, suggested by one of its members, to extend the mandate of the current deputies until June 20, 2017. A similar law was approved 17 months ago, to extend the mandate of the same deputies until Nov. 20, 2014. The current parliament was originally elected in 2009 for a legal mandate of four years, which was supposed to end on June 20, 2013. However, the majority of the members decided, twice in a row, that the circumstances prevailing over the country are not suitable to carry out general parliamentary elections. This is why they decided that there should be a law to have another extension, despite all democratic regulations and without holding any elections.

However, eight days after the extension was decided and in accordance with the law, 10 deputies from the Change and Reform bloc, presided over by Gen. Michel Aoun, proceeded with a revision before the Constitutional Council, which represents the judiciary branch in Lebanon, demanding to consider the extension law as a nonconstitutional law — null and void. The parliamentary bloc opposing the extension is attempting to bring back essential democratic regulations and push the Lebanese government to call for general parliamentary elections.