Students lie at the heart of a thorny political dilemma, as Scotland's new political rulers this week grasp the thistle of coalition government.
The dominant Labour Party made it clear yesterday it wants a deal quickly, and ideally by Wednesday when the new parliament first meets. Its likely partner, the Liberal Democrats, is taking its time over negotiations, with the legal deadline of June 3rd.
In a parliament which shares its temporary home with Edinburgh University's theology faculty, the newly-introduced £1,000 sterling annual tuition fee paid by better-off UK students is one of the few areas where Labour and the Liberal Democrats do not see eye to eye.
Labour does not want to divert £43 million to abolish the charge, from which 40 per cent of poorer students are exempt. The Liberal Democrats have said the fees are dead in the water, and know that if there is no deal with Labour, they can combine with the other parties for a convincing majority to scrap them.
Labour argues there are multiple problems of having fees in England but not in Scotland, attracting large numbers of English students north. There is also the headache for Mr Tony Blair of leading Labour into a UK general election, two to three years from now, arguing to keep fees which his Scottish colleagues could have abolished.
The issue goes to the heart of what the past week's UK constitutional revolution means in reality. It challenges British politicians to adjust to the need for coalitions created by the new proportional voting system in Scotland and Wales.
There are reports that the Labour leadership in London is putting pressure on Mr Donald Dewar, the Scottish party leader, not to give in on tuition fees. But what this weekend has seen is the realisation in London that last Thursday's election gave Mr Dewar his own power base. Edinburgh is now home to a national parliament which can do as it pleases on such issues, and the abolition of tuition fees could be the symbolic gesture of defiance Scottish Labour needs.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats are the only conceivable alliance that can command a majority of the 129-member Scottish parliament, with Labour on 56 seats and Liberal Democrats with 17.
The bitter rivalry between Labour and the Scottish National Party, which will lead the opposition with its 35 seats, means a deal between them is impossible, and the Conservatives remain political pariahs for the other three parties.
The Labour-SNP rivalry has not stopped since the election. Mr Dewar yesterday crowed over the SNP being decisively seen off. Echoing The Flower of Scotland, an unofficial national anthem which celebrates a victory over the English in 1314, he told the first meeting of his parliamentary group: "The Scottish people sent them hamewards to think again - and again, and again".
This is despite much talk in Scotland of a new style of politics, in contrast with the confrontational, winner-takes-all culture of the House of Commons in London. The Liberal Democrats are arguing for a partnership government rather than coalition, having been advised by Dutch Liberals, with experience in these matters, that the word "coalition" is tainted with grubby, backroom deals.
However, both Mr Dewar and Mr Jim Wallace, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, face the threat of backbench revolt. A significant number of Liberal Democrat MSPs (Members of the Scottish Parliament) fear a pact would leave them exposed in their rural heartland to the revived Conservative Party in the May 2003 election.