It was a devastating electoral defeat for the Nationalist Party at the weekend. After four years in Opposition, it made no in-roads. There are various reasons for this but, whichever way one looks at it, the electorate has rejected what the PN and its leader stood for in a very definite way.

Simon Busuttil had found a party in disarray when he took over after the 2013 defeat. It is probably in that state again. Back then, Labour had come across as a breath of fresh air many were keen to embrace. The PN looked obsolete. That was not the situation at this weekend’s election when the PN looked invigorated, propped up by the Democratic Party, even putting on a new name, Forza Nazzjonali. It did not work.

At this election, there was a fundamental difference. Apart from the numerous electoral proposals, the PN promised good governance above all else. It argued that the election was one based on principle and on values. Some came forward and embraced it, including two former Labour MPs. But Labour kept its ground. It kept its 2013 majority, indicating that a new breed of voters had joined Labour as others left. Labour was about bread and butter and people went for that.

As people return to their normal lives today and Joseph Muscat settles back at Castille, much of the problems that existed before the election will return. Issues like the future of Air Malta, the intense battering the financial services suffered and ongoing magisterial investigations that directly or indirectly concern the Prime Minister are his first headaches.

This election has strengthened Dr Muscat’s hand but changed nothing.

Dr Busuttil wanted to strengthen the country’s institutions so they would provide the necessary checks and balances on the government. He wanted truly independent institutions that are essential to the country’s democracy.

Can it be that the electorate rejected that as a concept? Or did not care? People do not live off principles but they live by them. And, yet, the defeat was as bad as in 2013.

The PN has an intense soul-searching exercise ahead of it. It has evidently misread the signs and public sentiment. It is still where it was four years ago.

Dr Busuttil has rightfully bowed to defeat to make way for fresh blood. It does not mean what he said was wrong but he did not convince. By his own admission, people were still unforgiving towards the PN for when it was still in government.

He had to pay the price for that too.

The PN is in the doldrums, facing a Prime Minister who is set to retire undefeated. Nationalism, talk of doing what is right for the country, has not worked. Maybe the message was delivered wrong or people did not care. They saw the economic progress, loved it and voted for more. So, is the PN to sell out and embrace a hedonistic culture? That would be the worst option.

The Prime Minister has said the people had opted for positivity. Given the economic progress achieved under his watch and, naturally, the power of incumbency, his assessment appears realistic. But that would mean that nothing the PN said on good governance and corruption has mattered.

Hopefully, the truth lies somewhere in between. It would be a terrible indictment upon the country if it were not so.