Last Monday, in Parliament, I was sitting right opposite Konrad Mizzi and Joseph Muscat as they tried to deflect attention from their failure. I wasn't just listening to what was being said. I was watching attentively. Believe me, there was so much to watch, it's a pity the debate was not televised.

At the start of the debate, Muscat signalled to Mizzi to sit next to him. Through my brief teaching experience, I could sense that this move meant these two boys were up to no good. And I was right.

I also noted, throughout the debate, that when the members of the Opposition were attacked on a personal level, many from the Government side joined in. This was in sharp contrast to their reaction when Konrad Mizzi was talking. Many looked busy with other things and hardly looked at him. The exceptions were Marlene Farrugia, who did not miss an iota, and the Prime Minister, who looked up at Konrad with pleasure.

It was the kind of pleasure a mischievous boy takes in another mischief-maker simply because they had planned something out together. Now they were about to put their little classroom trick to work. It was evident that they had something up their sleeve just to deflect the general attention from themselves onto someone else. It turned out their chosen victim was George Pullicino.

Muscat was holding the reins while Mizzi was rushing through all he had to say. It was obvious that no contract was going to be presented to Parliament. Nor any memorandum of understanding. In fact, no document whatsoever.

It was also obvious that Mizzi had planned his speech to climax with the little trick: the smearing of George Pullicino (which later led the Speaker to decide there was a prima facie case of breach of privilege - in other words, an attack made in bad faith). No wonder the Prime Minister kept calming him down every time there was a point of order.

At one point, Mizzi looked at Muscat with a huge grin, red face and blood-shot eyes. I read the Prime Minsiter's lips: "Mhux ghalissa" (not yet), he told Mizzi. And Mizzi obeyed, spouting all the garbage somebody had prepared for him, a huge list of poor excuses and more promises. It was surreal.

Mizzi seems less trained in dissimulation than the Prime Minister. So he kept hinting that he had something up his sleeve. This was so childish that some members of the Government side kept hiding their faces in embarrassment. I also noted that, many times, the Prime Minister started banging on the bench in approval of what Mizzi was saying and a few others followed - but definitely not all.

After Monday's debate no one was left any wiser. There was a bitter aftertaste which did not go down well at all. Muscat and Mizzi know that the motion presented by the Opposition brought out the incompetence of the two of them. They had made a promise and simply did not keep it.

Despite the debate, there are still huge question marks on several issues related to this project and the energy sector in general.  

How is our government going to make good for the reduction in tariffs? Will it be made in a financially sustainable way? Or will we pay dearly for it sometime down the line? When is Muscat going to publish the contracts related to this huge mess and what exactly are the contractual obligations by all involved? 

What sort of due diligence has been carried out (if any) on Gasol plc? A simple search reveals that this company has junk bonds with accumulated losses of some €90 million and is run by some notorious individuals with a terrible reputation in this sector.

Worse still, now that we know the power station will not be built by March 2015, we still have no idea when the project is actually going to start, but we're told it will finish 24 months after that. Go figure that.

Last Monday's debate was not a waste of time. It was the best tool for the Opposition to show Muscat for what he truly is. Muscat can't keep his word, he can't be trusted.