the general state of things; the combination of circumstances at a given time; "the present international situation is dangerous"; "wondered how such a state of affairs had come about"; "eternal truths will be neither true nor eternal unless they have fresh meaning for every new social situation"- Franklin D Roosevelt
If you refer to a particular state of affairs, you mean the general situation and circumstances connected with someone or something. This state of affairs cannot continue for too long, if parliament is to recover