The periodic mating season which fell in the year 2008 is half way over, with the most important couplings already made by this weekend. What is left to happen remains very important, but not as important as what occurred before and, in particular, what comes after.
The political calendar dictated that the season should come about. With another general election over and done with, the political parties had to go into their ritual act of love to bring about offspring to begin to run the medium term until another election.
For the Nationalist Party, the first part of the to-do was easy. Although by a whisker, the PN had won the election. There may be those who, in their heart of hearts, try to be as honest as Simon Busuttil. The Nationalist MEP, whose light is probably already timed to turn on to flood when Lawrence Gonzi calls it quits as party leader, was very frank. He said something to the serious effect that the PN should look at the 2008 election outcome as if it had lost. He did not elaborate fully.
Nor did Busuttil need to do so. Despite the hoop-la that was projected throughout the 2003-08 term in office, and in particular Gonzi's four years of it, the Nationalists won by just a slim margin. Thousands of their own folk stayed away in protest. The PN were handed victory by Labour, through its poor leadership, poor programme, poor electoral campaign.
As ever, to the victor the spoils. Whether a party wins by a massive absolute majority, or by a puny relative one, it gets the prize. In our system, winner takes all. Gonzi accepted the President's invitation to form a government once again and immediately forgot pre-election promises to seek some consensus, not least in the appointment of people to serve on myriad public sector boards. He also determinedly failed to remember to offer the Opposition basic consultation on his government's sudden decision to join the Partnership for Peace.
Not promising, in broad democratic terms. But so what, in party terms. The PN mechanism duly met to reconfirm Gonzi as leader with delirious acclamation. In the same process Tonio Borg was cemented as deputy leader, though in his early years in that position some thought he had not quite cut it.
The mating of the Nationalist councillors produced an early result.
On the other side of the divide, some among the MLP pleaded that they had almost made it. Louder voices drowned out that bleat, pointing out that Labour had lost a third election in succession, when it should have wiped the floor with the Nationalists, and despite assurances up to the last minute that it was all going swimmingly.
The sitting leader did the only honourable thing open to him. He resigned. This time - unlike in 2003 - he did so in earnest. As it does after every general election, the MLP set about re-electing its leadership, through the mating of the party delegates.
The MLP now has a brand new leader in Joseph Muscat. Before the week is out it will also have two new deputy leaders. Charles Mangion, who was deputy leader, parliamentary affairs, stated from the outset that he would not contest any leadership position. Michael Falzon, deputy leader for party affairs, contested unsuccessfully for leader and will not be seeking another deputy leadership position.
The new deputy leaders elected on Thursday will make up the rest of the Labour leadership team. In both parties there is further mating to be done. Soon the MLP will be calling for nominations for the party's administrative posts, including those of president and general secretary. That will not be easy.
Expect the positions to be hotly contested as the party shows whether it is coming to terms with the analysis of its latest defeat at the polls, and with pointers of the way forward that are not at all difficult to recognise. By then the PN will have elected a new general secretary to replace Joe Saliba, who stepped down in accordance with a time-frame he had set himself. Before long too, the MLP will catch up with the PN in electing a new governing body, as one might call the national executive.
Nobody can dictate to the new delegates who to elect in the coming national round of fresh elections of local centre committees. What happens there, and the extent to which new blood will be introduced, will be a strong indicator of whether these are really going to be new times for the MLP. As with the country at large, party democracy starts at the local level.
With the mating over, then what? Then the very serious business will begin. For the two major parties that will be made up of teams preparing brick by brick, step by step for the next general election. That was the theme of the MLP leadership race, and of its new leader. That was the theme laid out straightaway by Gonzi for the PN and his new government.
For the country at large, one hopes that a discussion will grow away from the extensive radius of the political parties. It should be about how we, as a people, wish to be governed. About whether it's right that in a general election all the spoils should go to supporters of the winning party. Whether it makes sense to move forward as if we really were two primitive tribes, instead of one civilised people.