After four postponements in four years, the political parties got together and once more tried to buy more time by extending the CA’s term by another three months. But the Supreme court's stay order on Thursday has abruptly and dramatically changed the scenario. Now, there is no alternative but to pass a new constitution by the existing deadline of Sunday midnight.

If there is no more politicking, no more wheeling dealing, and no more short-term bargaining for power in exchange for provisions of the new constitution, it will still be possible to do it. But the party leadership will have to work night and day, fine-tuning a draft constitution along the lines of agreements already made. The 2 May pact between the four main political forces lays the groundwork for the constitution, agreeing on compromises on the two contentious issues of state structure and form of governance.

However flawed, the 11-state model and a mixed system of governance were the best compromises the parties could reach. It is unlikely that they can come up with anyting better in the next two days. It is not the best way to do it, but it could be worse. Constitutional law experts say that there is now a legal imperative to have closure on the constitution by the stipulated date. The alternative is a referendum, an immediate election, or the declaration of a state of emergency to fill the void.

There are challenges, but also opportunities now to leapfrog on the constitution.

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