Only once did the first 100 days of a politi cian's leadership carry any real significance: when Franklin Delano Roosevelt managed to persuade the US to set aside the lauded checks and balances of its political system so that he, as a supreme kind of President, could quickly enact a number of measures designed to drag the economy out of depression.

This period heralded his New Deal and showed what could really be done by politicians with will. That was 1933. Since then, the 100-day yardstick has cursed practically every politician that came after the four-time US President. Obviously aware of that, Joseph Muscat was keen from the off to lay down some markers.

Even before he was elected Labour leader in a fractious contest that culminated in success after a second ballot on June 6, the 34-year-old made a declaration about the need to introduce legislation in favour of divorce. This was a bold move, since he risked incurring the wrath of even the MLP's traditional voter-base. Yet he emerged unscathed, even forcing the government's hand into placing the issue, not for the first time it has to be said, on the national agenda. Three months on, it is still there. And it is not about to go away in a hurry.

Less effective was Dr Muscat's proposal to reduce the voting age to 16 on a trial basis. This was not so much because others wrote column inches to boast that they had come up with the idea before him, but rather that it was not a matter high on the public's agenda - particularly with summer in full swing. Cost of living and domestic circumstances are things people care passionately about. Their children having the option to vote is not.

Yet even though the voting age proposal will probably die a natural death; that, coupled with his move on divorce, has given us a strong indication of the direction he is travelling in. Dr Muscat wants to be known as the progressive among Malta's two political leaders, which he hopes will not only help him capture youngsters who turned their back on Labour at the last election, but also mark him out as a fresh and distinct alternative to Lawrence Gonzi in 2013, or whenever the next election may be. Add to this his approachable, if slightly cocky, disposition and he has the makings of a tough opponent.

That is, unless he is undone by his own party. And the past 100 days have shown that the MLP is not just willing to do that, but able too. The election of its two deputy leaders, even though they have been occupying their roles, to date, in virtual silence; Jason Micallef's re-election as general secretary; and Alex Sceberras Trigona's return as international secretary. Not one of these will help Dr Muscat gain the votes he needs from the electorate that matters.

And he must seek to pacify senior dissatisfied members of the party too. Going by the some of the comments carried in The Sunday Times today, that is not going to be easy. And cracks will be even harder to paper over the next time round than they were earlier this year.

To his credit, Dr Muscat appears to be aware of the problems and is attempting - his moves to appoint a CEO as well as a commission to review the party's internal structures being the most obvious - to do something about them. But he is going to have to wait a lot longer than Mr Roosevelt to find out if he will be successful.