The debate between the Prime Minister and the Opposition leader must have given a very good indication of the enormous difference between the two leaders.

Joseph Muscat was completely in control of any subject brought up by the moderator, Peppi Azzopardi, who, I must add, asked what could have been embarrassing questions to both. While Muscat did not flinch from answering such questions, Simon Busuttil tried to avoid giving a direct reply. To name just one example, the question of spring hunting.

Knowing that he couldn’t take on the Prime Minister on the concrete electoral pledges which the Labour government is delivering with uncustomary speed – for Malta – and on which the Nationalist Party had predicted the contrary would happen, Busuttil chose to attack individuals who have been appointed to important positions.

He also focused on the PN’s priority, that of trying to scare the wits out of gullible voters, especially of Marsaxlokk and Birżebbuġa – a perfect repetition of the 2013 election campaign. Only, this time, the dose has been greatly increased.

I need not go into the many slip-ups of the Opposition leader, since I am sure that the vast majority of readers watched the debate. But I cannot fail to mention what, in my view, was Busuttil’s worst moment, when he accused the Prime Minister of “relishing to be seen with dictators”. In saying that, he proved beyond any shadow of doubt that he knew he couldn’t convince by attacking the Prime Minister on the government’s record of its first year in office, so had to resort to scaremongering to, at least, convince his hardcore supporters.