Now can we get down and stick to the much more serious stuff on the national political agenda? Not that this has been totally absent. But for much too long now the most cutting attention seems to have been given to the appointments to public boards and committees made from among a few Labour Party stalwarts.

Muscat’s job is to administer the country, not to spend most of his time on ensuring retribution for the deliberate acts made by Nationalist ministers

It is ironic that the bulk of the appointees have no immediately political recognisable hue. Joseph Muscat followed a democratic – not simply a majoritarian – principle. This contrasted starkly with the line followed by the previous Prime Minister. Elected by the slimmest of majorities, he stuffed public boards and committees with dyed-in-the-wool Nationalists or fellow travellers.

One might say this time the expectation was different. Somehow Labour critics expected an equal sharing out of posts as if that could have been possible after almost 25 years of uninterrupted absolute Nationalist rule.

Anyway, the first chapter is almost over. It was brought to a near end by a bold move aimed by the Prime Minister at his own side. He appointed arch-enemy Lou Bondì to the national festivities committee. Judging by the reaction on the social media, it sounded as if Muscat had given Bondì the keys to the city. The move was a deliberate ploy. A slap in the face of those who made such a hullabaloo about the handful of Labour names appointed earlier on.

The largest sector that remains to be staffed is the diplomatic service. Rumours are flying and already the early charge about a few Labour appointees is re-emerging. In a week or two that too will have blown over.

What really matters can accelerate in earnest. Muscat’s job is to administer the country, not to spend most of his time on ensuring retribution for the deliberate acts made by Nationalist ministers.

It is surprising that no action has been taken with regard to the straight and narrow of the new Delimara power station dealings. But that probably is an offset to a move Muscat had to make as a throw of a sop to the Gozitan Cerberus. Gozitans had their appetite whetted once more for a permanent link through a bridge or a tunnel. The economic and financial madness of either proposal can be worked out on the back of a box of matches. But, of course, politics being politics that’s not how things are done.

Feasibility studies have to show the enormous cost and minimum efficacy of the job and even then some will still want it. In parallel, one hopes the true priorities will be pushed forward.

The new initiatives announced by the Prime Minister will be getting their due care. The Marsa shipyard precinct stands the best chance of positive outcome. The restructuring of the public finances will make the Finance Minister marshal his team to cut surplus expenditure and raise additional finance. If not, he’ll be landed with the first flop transferred from the laps of the Nationalists to those of Labour. The excessive deficit procedure will become Labour’s fault and problem, rather than the other way round.

A new route for new investment promotion beyond the European Union will become a top priority, linked with the appointment of new focused diplomats in the world beyond the EU. Though haste will need to be avoided, speed and quality will be of the essence.

The real work to be done is far away from appointments, good or bad. It will be an agenda growing and changing every day. From now on, all the ministers, not just a few of them, will have to measure up to it to see where they stand. The Prime Minister’s early mini-reshuffle should serve as a bright signal on a clear summer night.