The outcome of the vote of no-confidence motion was a foregone conclusion, given that the government enjoys a comfortable majority in the House of Representatives.

But more important factors emerged from the 13-hour debate last Monday, and these will probably have a bigger effect on the political proceedings between now and the election. In spite of the defeat, the Nationalist Party emerges stronger, while the Labour government’s dithering is leading to loss of popularity.

For one thing, it was clear to all those with an open mind and no blinkers to see that while Prime Minister Joseph Muscat appeared profoundly frustrated with the situation that has gripped his government, Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil keeps growing in stature. It is no wonder that, as confirmed by a survey carried out by this media house, the two leaders are today closer to each other in terms of trust among the people.

Joseph Muscat completely avoided tackling the Panama Papers scandal. His 30-minute speech was shorter than one would have expected from Labour’s top man on such a delicate issue, and he seemed to want to get it over and done with as quickly as possible, in the hope that things will now move on. They won’t, not even when finally he will take the much-promised action – if he eventually does. It will be impossible to erase the political damage that has been caused to Labour in the last eight weeks. And the Prime Minister’s procrastination has only made it worse.

Never once did Joseph Muscat make a direct reference to the issue that was being debated in Parliament. He is so ashamed of it all that he cannot get the word Panama out of his mouth. Admitting mistakes is easy, and the PM did it like any politician would, but admitting them is one thing and taking action about them is another. By not having the courage to remove his closest allies as from day one, the PM became politically responsible for what they did.

He came across not only as aggressive, as Simon Busuttil later described the PM’s demeanour, but also perturbed by a situation that has grown exponentially and is set to develop even more as other revelations are made. Perhaps he thought the matter would have fizzled out, and by the time he realised its implications it was already out of hand. Muscat knows that what Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri did was reprehensible from a political point of view, and that their actions cannot be defended. But he could not – and will not – bring himself to boot them out. He chose Mizzi and Schembri over the national interest, and this will hurt him when the time comes.

Conversely, Simon Busuttil’s confidence grows from one important speech to another. Of course, it helped that he was speaking about a situation that, for the first time since the 2013 debacle, has given the PN the possibility of winning the next election. The Panama Papers could be Labour’s downfall and, frankly, I think that in spite of all the clamour that the PN has made for the resignation of Mizzi and Schembri, the PN does not really want them to go. By staying on – and by the PM keeping them there – the PN has enough ammunition to go on for the next two years or so.

More than this, Simon Busuttil’s delivery continues to improve, and he was unfazed by the comments that were being passed from the other side, a sign that Labour exponents were being hit where it hurts. By resorting to naming ministers one by one – those who were reported to have called for Konrad Mizzi’s resignation in the PL’s internal structures – he was exposing the cracks that first appeared when the scandal broke out, and which have since opened up even more.

Labour showed a united front in the vote, but beneath the surface ugly things are going on.