Joseph Muscat, Malta’s young prime minister, is a very strong character who deserves some admiration. He has established himself as the second Dom Mintoff in that what he says goes. He seems invincible. People listen to him and they applaud him.

Dr Muscat admits he is not perfect. Who is? He commits mistakes and bows his head in forgiveness saying that things could have been done better. However, what is of utmost importance to him is the fact that people trust him. Come Election Day, Dr Muscat will most certainly regain the support of the majority of the electorate.

I am convinced that the majority of voters are not particularly concerned about allegations of corruption, nor do they care about Panama, Keith Schembri or Konrad Mizzi. What is important to people is the economy which is flourishing, the hundreds of useless government jobs created and purchasing power. Nothing else matters!

On the other side of the coin there is Simon Busuttil, a nice guy who excelled as an MEP. As Leader of the Opposition, however, Dr Busuttil’s fine qualities are not deemed to be enough to bolster his chances to become Malta’s next Prime Minister.

Since he became PN leader Dr Busuttil has done his best to create a new image for his party. However, I am sorry to say that although a great improvement was registered in the Nationalist camp, as a leader of such a strong party I find that Dr Busuttil is still far behind Dr Muscat – who continues to stand firmly on his feet, popular as ever and solid as a rock.

Of course I may be wrong. We will have to wait for the results in approximately 18 months’ time.