The energy debate was still a predominant force during the second week of the election campaign, and it does not seem likely that the discussion on the Labour Party’s proposals will stop. It is bound to keep making the headlines right until the election campaign and, if Labour wins, for many months afterwards too.

But the second week was also characterized by the first debate between the two leaders of the political parties on Xarabank last Friday, and the dispute over the second such debate from which the Opposition Leader has withdrawn after conditions set by the Labour Party were not accepted by the producers.

The debate was held in a surreal atmosphere as the Broadcasting Authority prohibited any applause from the audience present, something that affected the performance of the two leaders. For one thing, they could not gauge the reaction of the people present in the studio to what they were saying, although presumably the audience was half Nationalist and half Labour.

It was a situation they were not accustomed to and, frankly, one with which we do not agree. The BA must have its reasons – just as much as it has its reasons to invite sections of the media to its programmes more than other sections – but its control seems to be too excessive at this stage. What next? Will it prohibit supporters from chanting slogans at mass meetings too?

Lawrence Gonzi and Joseph Muscat do not see eye to eye on many political issues – although they did agree on something important last Friday, that political corruption cases should not be time-barred. What was clear however is that the two respect each other. There was no personal confrontation last Friday, something which was quite evident between other leaders in previous debates.

They have their political arguments they want to put through, and they had the chance to do so last Friday in what is by far the most popular programme on local television stations. They scored points and lost others, answered questions and avoided others, and most of all spoke at length on what they see as their respective party’s strength – employment, health and education for the Prime Minister and the energy proposals for the Opposition Leader.

What stood out also was the fact that neither of them surprised the other. There was no rabbit coming out of a hat, as our journalist aptly described it in the news story we carried on our news portal www.independent.com.mt. Maybe they are still keeping their surprises for later in the campaign to have the greater impact.