Friday saw the first debate between the PM and the Opposition leader. But it came across as a bit of a playground squabble at times.  Both Joseph Muscat and Simon Busuttil started brightly. Both made their introductions and both were very prepared, concise and to the point. But, it has to be said, it degenerated from there.

Dr Muscat looked as if the pressures of leading the country for the past year have started to take their toll. While Dr Muscat is still young in years, he does look a little haggard at times – and that is what being a Prime Minister does to you.

Dr Busuttil, on the other hand, looked spritely and ready for mischief from the word go. The strategy was clear and the roles were reversed. In the run up to the last election, Dr Muscat used to try and rile his predecessor Lawrence Gonzi – and it worked a treat. Dr Gonzi used to lose patience with (at the time) the young upstart who used to goad him in, dangle the bait and make him bite.

This time, it was Muscat who fell for it, time and time again. Dr Muscat has a tendency of answering with quick-witted one-liner ripostes. But when he is under pressure, or when someone makes him lose it (which he is quite prone to doing), he turns arrogant. Some of the comments he made were quite shallow and unbefitting of a television debate. He also scored no points when he had a dig at Alternattiva’s leader – goading him by saying there was not one Green PM in the whole of Europe. But Dr Busuttil didn’t really have an overall strategy. He was caught completely off guard at one point, when the PM asked him a question. Dr Busuttil was in a world of his own and was prompted by the moderator to answer the question. He very clearly had no clue as to what it was and he said he would answer later, which he didn’t.

When it comes to deciding on winners and losers, one could use boxing terminology. Neither leader scored a knockout blow. But one would have to say that the PM scored a comfortable unanimous points victory. If it was to be scored round by round, the PM did not win by shutout. Dr Busuttil did win a round here and there. But it was the PM who threw more punches and landed the heavy shots when they mattered. There was a lot of clinching and holding, but there were flurries of activity and the PM put the better combinations together.

When Dr Muscat first became leader, he paid a visit to Lawrence Gonzi and promised a new way of doing politics, but “we will still have some boxing matches”.  Well, in that respect, we have to say that with Simon Busuttil, Dr Muscat emerged from his first bout slightly bloodied, but comfortably victorious. We will eagerly await the rematch.