Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Opposition leader Simon Busuttil had their first televised head-to-head debate this evening as they sparred on issues that have characterised the government's first year.
The initial exchanges on Xarabank provided a glimpse of the composed but tough opposition the leaders - former MEPs - are to each other.
Like in previous years the leader of Alternattiva Demokratika Arnold Cassola has been relegated to a reduced slot towards the end of the programme.
Dr Muscat started his round with a defence of the controversial citizenship-by-investment programme and its absence from the electoral manifesto. He said the idea was hatched after the election because his govenment will evaluate all ideas that came along.
Dr Muscat said the programme had got the European Commission's green light and everyone "except the Opposition leader" was now in favour.
Dr Busuttil insisted the national interest was not solely as defined by the Prime Minister. "I know that you like being seen with dictators but we live in a European democracy and it is wrong to describe criticism as betrayal," Dr Busuttil said.
On the tempered smart meters amnesty for consumers, Dr Busuttil said it was wrong for such a decision to be taken by the Prime Minister. He insisted it should have been the courts who decided the fate of consumers who bribed Enemalta officials.
However, Dr Muscat defended the decision because it helped provide the information with which "the big fish" could be caught, claiming there could be "even bigger fish" than the Enemalta officials who have been charged and sentenced in court.
In a tit-for-tat Dr Busuttil accused the Prime Minister of institutionalising corruption while Dr Muscat said consumers who did not voluntary come forward would be arraigned.
GAS POWER STATION
Anyone trying to make heads and tails of the safety issues associated with the new gas power station and the controversial floating storage unit, which will be a large LNG carrier moored alongside Delimara, was left flabbergasted.
Dr Busuttil claimed the tanker inside Marsaxlokk Bay put people's lives at risk and urged the Prime Minister to re-evaluate the project by placing the storage and regassification unit out at sea.
Dr Muscat reiterated that anchoring the storage tanker out at sea posed a higher risk and insisted the project would be safe.
The Opposition leader then accused Dr Muscat of putting his political interest ahead of safety because he knew that any other solution than the one prospected would require more time to implement - Dr Muscat had said he would resign if electricity tariffs were not reduced as promised, which depended on the power station being completed by 2015.
Dr Muscat denied the charge. "Waiting for a pipeline will leave people paying high electricity bills for longer and this is the same solution offered by the previous government."
GAY ADOPTIONS
When answering a question on child adoptions by gay couples, Dr Muscat acknowledged that he changed his opinion since answering a similar question on Xarabank five years ago and urged Dr Busuttil to follow suit.
The Civil Unions Bill currently before Parliament will give gay couples all the rights as married couples, including the possibility to adopt.
But Dr Busuttil defended the Opposition's call to remove child adoptions from the Civil Unions Bill, insisting this was based on the best interest of children.
"I am ready to change my stand but we are calling for the matter to be studied to ensure society is prepared for such a development," Dr Busuttil said.
AD GETS ITS SLOT
AD chairman Arnold Cassola joined the debate for his 10-minute slot, which kicked off with his defence of his party's stand in favour of the abrogative referendum to ban spring hunting.
He said the people will, for the first time, have a right to decide on an issue the two major parties have avoided tackling.
Dr Muscat insisted he did not agree with the referendum strategy but if the signatures were collected he would have to adhere to the legal obligations imposed on him by the Referendum Act.
Dr Busuttil would not say whether he agreed with the referendum or not.
Prof. Cassola criticised the government's citizenship scheme, insisting the red carpet rolled out for the very rich in the first year should have been reserved for parents of disabled children and urged the government to grant citizenship to the children of immigrants born in Malta.
On immigration, the AD leader said the European Green Party was the only one to include in its manifesto a pledge to abolish the Dublin II regulations that prevented migrant relocation after their asylum application would have been processed.