Perhaps it’s a sign of confidence. Joseph Muscat is sure that, no matter what he and his government do, there is no way that a 36,000 victory could be turned into a defeat when the next election takes place.

Or perhaps, considering that we are still to reach midway through his term as prime minister, there will still be ample time to recover and allow the people to forget what happened in the first 30 months.

Whatever the case, these first two and a half years of Joseph Muscat’s premiership will be remembered for the scandals that have rocked the government’s foundations right to the core.

Just last week, we had stories about unsecured loans given out to Air Malta, the expropriation of Victoria property that was overvalued, the request for an investigation into an alleged abuse of power by a parliamentary secretary and the attempt to rush through legislation on the environment before the end of a public consultation exercise.

Before that, it was all about Sai Mizzi, Cafe Premier, the expropriation deal of a Valletta property, the Zonqor controversy, the appointment of an 18-year-old to a sensitive directorship and a number of happenings in both the Armed Forces of Malta and the Police Force that have dented the credibility of these institutions. Not to mention the resignation of two ministers and the intricate situations that many other members of the Cabinet found themselves in so far.

Before I’m accused of being negative, I must say that in this first half of the legislature, Malta’s economy has been doing extremely well and, given what we’re seeing happening in Greece (and not only there), this was not something that could be taken for granted. Unemployment is at an all-time low (although giving so many jobs in the public sector helped in no small way), the tourism industry is flourishing and there is a general sense of well-being.

But governments rarely win elections on the way the economy is performing, as otherwise Lawrence Gonzi would not have been defeated last time round.

And so there is a risk that, when the time comes, all the good things that are happening will be overshadowed by other events that tarnish the government’s reputation.

Joseph Muscat is doing little, if anything, to control the situation or, at least, be seen to be doing something.

In 2013, he won because the majority of the voters believed him when he spoke about a new way of doing politics, meritocracy, transparency and the ‘taghna lkoll’ idea. But there is nothing new in what he is doing, and his pledges to run the country via a cleaner leadership have not come to be.

There is little meritocracy, even less transparency, and ‘taghna lkoll’ quickly became ‘taghna biss’.

Over-confidence or not, in the second half of the legislature Joseph Muscat must show a better understanding and move away from the amateurism that has often characterised his leadership.