Education Minister Evarist Bartolo stringly hinted that lessons need to be learnt by the Labiur Party after the local council elections.

The Labour Party won, but has seen the 17 per cent majority it won in 2012 drop by half to nine per cent.

Writing on Facebook, Mr Bartolo said that if one wins and becomes overconfident, thinking that nobody can stand up to you, it is a big mistake. The reference to Labour’s two successive huge electoral victories in 2013 and 2014 is evident.

“In a democracy, the votes belong to the citizens, they are never yours for good. And therefore it would be good for the Labour Party to make an honest and profound analysis of the (results)”.

He however had a word for the Nationalist Party too, saying that for someone to boast of a victory following a defeat is a serious matter. Psychologists describe this as being in a state of denial. “D.H. Lawrence has sweet words for those who lock themselves up in a room, paint the walls blue and believe they are in heaven”.

He was referring to the poem “The Optimist”, an ironic way of referring to the Nationalist Party, given that the Labour Party has been hammering on what it describes as Malta being in an optimistic mood under a Labour Government.

DH Lawrence writes:

The optimist builds himself safe inside a cell
and paints the inside walls sky-blue
and blocks up the door
and says he's in heaven.