A well known and accepted fact is that probably the biggest miscalculation done by the Nationalist Party prior to the 2013 general elections was to underestimate the political acumen of Dr Joseph Muscat. 

The PN diehards and those behind the scenes were keeping their fingers crossed because they thought that if George Abela were to take the reins, with his support towards the EU accession, his openness and his freshness it would pull the PN to pieces. 

So there was a happy bunch at the Stamperija rubbing their hands thinking that with Joseph Muscat at the helm, this Alfred Sant acolyte from long lost and forgotten Burmarrad, meant they would be in power for the long haul.

Muscat by many was considered too young, too go-getting, too self-assured - all elements that the PN felt were a recipe for yet another PL failure. 

Later on some PN insiders even went on to argue prosaically that although Muscat had won three elections, not counting the outstanding victories in the Local Council elections, 'all this had to happen' and that it was a political cycle that meant the turn was for the Labour Party to govern.     

What a ridiculous and shallow analysis these people dared to make. 

How insulting to their supporters and to the populace at large who have the God given right to vote people in and out of Castile.  They made the electorate sound as if they are a bunch of androids governed by the Big Brother hidden up there somewhere holding their hand as they vote.

What crap, brainless and dense contentions.

This is not an issue that 'with or without' Joseph Muscat Labour would have won just the same. 

The verity is that Joseph Muscat is the formula.

He brought in a fresh feeling in the PL.  He reminded people all the time that he was new but did not want to discard the old.  In the absence of an ideology he came up with the progressivi-moderati mantra which most did not understand but somehow subscribed to - because it felt inclusive, it felt new, it felt as if a new page was being turned. 

Internally he wasn't bothered changing the statute, his deputy leader and his secretary general. 

He was keen and easy to meet all. 

Gave every-one enough time so that he could pick their brains and straight away had a plan laid out where the pieces of the puzzle would fit. 

He is most of all a suggestive politician and more than depth he has width, not keen on philosophies and obscure ideologies but a pragmatic and hardnosed, no-nonsense type of character.

The misfired analysis by the Nationalist Party 'moral high ground patrol' made people think that they would be there forever and ever and the Labour Party was doomed to be an Opposition perpetually (I think some Labour supporters believed this as well).  

Wide off the mark.

Metaphorically speaking the former PN strategists decapitated their own Party and removed its soul in the process.  Now the PN is struggling with organizational issues, popularity give outs and a soulless organisation that has no identity, not clear what inspires its existence and where it needs to go.

So there you go.

This politician called Muscat not only won but has engineered his party to keep winning.  Because what is interesting in Joseph Muscat and the way he has calculated it all is that it's not about winning this one and then we see,  but the moment 'this one' is won it's onto the next. 

He and his team are working round the clock to put people they trust in strategic positions, ensuring that when the push comes to shove there is a clear buffer zone all set in place to take the first impact and provide the de rigueur time to react. 

What fascinates me about this politician is that he manages to recreate himself.  He has grown into an impervious personality, ruthless some would say whilst others would describe him as unwavering. 

Love him or hate him, for Joseph Muscat the end justifies the means. 

The process is secondary what is important is the product, the ending, the performance indicators (if we want to go managerial lingo). 

To be fair he had said that he would manage a country and not simply lead it. 

Obviously he has to face constraints which I am sure drive him up the wall; some under-performing Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries who slip-up more than they should, a laborious and top heavy civil service which is designed to bring to a standstill the Government rather than administer it and a political culture that is enshrined in nepotism-cum-customer-care-centered.  

He also has to deal with the 'thought police' mentality that emanates from the media which is continually appraising his performance and that of his politicians minute by minute.  Consequently, periodically the populist sentiment dictates the priority and the timing in the agenda rather than exigencies. 

I also believe that he has not managed to profit from the Parliament Deputies like Marlene Farrugia, that say it as they feel, no strings attached.  Rather than taking them on-board he is doing the wrong thing and starting to ostracize them, making them the victims and him the dupe - a method that has gone completely off-shot by the PN strategists in the past.

What worries me as well with Muscat's clan is that even if he has managed to see through a number of initiatives as he goes along he risks re-building a fortress mentality a thinking that you are either in or out.

Once again I don't believe this originates from him but from the people around him who are obsessed with 'protecting him', their leader, as if the skies are going to fall on him all the time.  If he is not vigilant this tactic risks implanting into Muscat a locked in orderliness - where he is able to see all that is happening around him but with little control over the consequences. 

This would be ill-fated. 

Another apprehension I feel Muscat needs to face is that during these last year and a half I have seen him little by little drift away from the people. 

His informal attire has all been squirreled away in his wardrobe and the relaxed and casual attitude that comes so easy to him is becoming rare and atypical. 

He has been asked to act the Prime Minister, whom he obviously is, but if this is symptomatic of what is going to happen in the coming years than there is a risk that Muscat might be in safe territory most of the time - but in politics it is the ability to take calculated risks that matters most when people decide to take their pick.