You have to hand it to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. He is a pro at covering incompetence, creating excuses and spinning his storylines.

When the electoral campaign kicked off in January 2013, Muscat could hardly contain himself. At the stroke of midnight, he launched his multi-million campaign with one main promise. He would build a new power station within two years of winning power. This new power station would reduce the cost of producing energy, which meant that households and industry would see utility bills go down significantly.

As the campaign days rolled on, a very confident Konrad Mizzi appeared by Muscat's side. Mizzi was not the typical PL candidate. The language he used sounded like he either really knew what he was talking about, or, he could bluff his way through anything. He fit in well with the new marketing and sales pitch used by Muscat.

But it now seems that what the duo were offering were dreams, fantasies and illusions.

We all remember Konrad Mizzi's visual presentations. This new power station would reduce the cost of energy by €187 million a year. To some this sounded too good to be true. But it was obvious to all that Muscat had made a clear choice - Konrad Mizzi was his expert in the field, an authority for the rest of us to take at his word.

Muscat's choice also meant that Marlene Farrugia, at the time Shadow Minister for Energy, had no part in his new decisions. During the press conferences, Muscat and Mizzi would whisper to each other to reassure themselves that what they were saying was right.

This was it: A new power station to be built by private investors. The numbers made so much sense to Joseph Muscat that he assumed personal and political responsibility for the success of the project.

Then came the moment, on live TV, when the engineer Marco Cremona popped the obvious question to Muscat: what if this plan failed? Muscat assured all present that he would unequivocally take full responsibility - and resign.

A year after capturing power, just a few months ago, Muscat gave the same assurance to Reno Bugeja on the TV programme, Dissett. The project was on track and he would resign if it fell through.

The Opposition asked for details but was told nothing. The roadmap - if there indeed is a roadmap - was a state secret. Then the original publicised plan changed. The large, massive gas tanks suddenly became a floating gas unit. The Opposition objected but was ridiculed. Muscat adopted his "Mr Know-it-all" attitude and shrugged off the criticism. This was his roadmap and he was competent.

A few days ago, this newspaper persisted by filming the project area from the sea. No sign of heavy machinery or any work in progress. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. Muscat is a media man by profession and he knows all too well that if the media pick on his incompetence, and that of his cabinet, he will lose face. Fast.

Today, we all know that this (in)famous power station will not be delivered in time. We also know that Konrad Mizzi seems to be having some serious problems with China. But we still have no details. At this point, all we can assume, based on past performance, is that we will never be given the whole true story.

Muscat has tried to distract us. He tried to play for time. At one point, out of the blue, one of Labour's deputy leaders, Toni Abela, began to talk about the need to reconsider the laws on prostitution. Now there was a topic that had been hogging the limelight.

The main distraction, however, was the huge incompetence of Joe Mizzi. We were all focusing on traffic, public transport and the new parliament building. For a change, none of this worked.

In the coming days we will expect more answers. Alas, I fear we will simply get more excuses. The truth is there will be no power station as promised. Muscat's incompetence has now surfaced. His carefully manufactured mask is cracking.  

 

Claudette Buttigieg MP - [email protected], twitter: @ButClaudette