And so, it’s done and dusted. Two and a half weeks after Finance Minister Edward Scicluna delivered the Budget Speech for 2016, the estimates for 15 minutes have been debated and now all that is left is for them to be enacted into law.

But it was not without more twists and turns than usual. The first one came on the night of the Budget Speech itself when there was a mix up which saw some working documents being distributed and accepted by the House instead of the Budget Document itself.

The opposition leader raised the issue in his speech to reply to the Finance Minister, but the concerns were dismissed by the Prime Minister the next day where he went into his usual rhetoric of saying that the opposition leader and the Nationalist Party were negative.

Next came a request for a ruling by the Speaker from opposition deputy leader Mario Demarco, before the debate on the estimates began. The opposition requested an urgent ruling on such a serious matter, but the Speaker waved it off and said he would give a ruling in the future. It was actually given the next day.

From then on, we were treated to the usual marathon sessions of parliament being held in the morning, afternoon and again in the evening – dragging on until 10.30pm every night for one-and-a-half weeks.

One of the sessions, which was to be held on a Saturday was also put off and was held on Thursday. And with that session, the one regarding European Affairs was the last. The measures will now go to the vote, with some amendments being pushed for by the Nationalist Part. Since then, we have seen things return to the usual pace. And so, we begin the next phase.

While the government has said that it trying to change the way things are done with politics, it is, as they say; same, same but different.

No sooner than the debates were over, we will now have a number of weeks of nightly activities by the government  which it calls “Gvern li jisma”. That will take us through November and into the first week or so of December.

That will lead us in to the period running up to Christmas and before you know it, Parliament will rise for Christmas and adjourn until early January. The truth be told, the issues being debated at present in the plenary are about as interesting as watching paint dry. But once the ante is upped, we will be back in full swing.

Parliament’s work is supremely important and perhaps the most understated change in moving to the new block was to have television cameras pointed at the speakers and broadcast into the home for anyone who wants to watch. In short, it put people under scrutiny. People can now see for themselves who rants and raves and who engages in intelligent debate. Perhaps it is time for another feed, one of the house in general, showing the whole plenary. That way, people will be able to see who is in attendance, who is watching videos on their phones, who is asleep at their desk and who is just in another world entirely.