The Labour government has hailed the International Chamber of Commerce's (ICC) arbitration judgment in the hospitals case as a "victory for Malta". The Nationalist Opposition has argued the opposite, insisting that the decision offers no vindication for a government that presided over one of the most scandalous episodes in Malta's modern political history.

The truth, however, lies beyond the government's triumphalist rhetoric or the Opposition's accusations. The fact remains that the Labour government is ultimately responsible for the deal that saw three of Malta's public hospitals handed to private operators, only for the Maltese courts to strike down the concession in disgust in a case instituted by then Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia.

That judgment, confirmed by the Court of Appeal, remains a judicial finding of monumental importance. No arbitration tribunal can rewrite that chapter.

For the government's most loyal supporters, the message being hammered home since the announcement last Monday and the publication of the whole document on Friday is clear: the matter is now "over and done with". Labour's narrative is that Malta has won, the Nationalist "myth" has been shattered, and the government was right all along. Subject closed, for Labour. It is a convenient line - one that seeks to draw a curtain over the matter. But this message is also a deliberate act of obfuscation.

The government is not celebrating justice; it is covering up its own mistakes. The more discerning voters, those not blinded by partisan loyalty, should see through this ruse.

Prime Minister Robert Abela was quick to declare that the "myth created by the Nationalist Party" had been dispelled. Yet, this conveniently ignores the far more substantial myth that Labour itself sold to the people - a promise that three hospitals would be transformed into state-of-the-art medical facilities.

That promise has long since evaporated. Gozo remains without the new hospital that was supposed to serve the island's residents. St Luke's and Karin Grech hospitals are still languishing in the same neglected state they were in when the concession was first awarded ten years ago.

The Opposition is arguing that the government had failed to recover the millions of euros spent on the deal. Labour had promised to claw back the money, but the Maltese taxpayers have seen nothing in return. The government was mocking the people when it said "Malta had won", Nationalist exponents repeatedly say.

Then again, the hospitals' deal goes beyond what the ICC ruled.

As the former president of the Medical Association of Malta, Dr Martin Balzan, remarked before leaving office, the deal debacle has resulted in 11 wasted years for the health sector; 11 years in which the country could have invested in infrastructure, modernised its hospitals, and improved patient care. Instead, the nation was left with nothing but broken promises. Those 11 years have now become nearly 13 and the consequences are there for all to see.

Apart from the three hospitals involved in the saga, the argument on the government's shortcomings in the health sector can be widened by saying that Mater Dei Hospital continues to operate at full stretch, struggling to cope with the ever-growing number of patients. Eighteen years after it opened, the hospital has too quickly grown too small for a population that, as a result of Labour's policies, grew exponentially since 2013. A new mental health hospital remains a promise on paper, too.

The government may wish to declare the hospitals' issue closed, but it cannot declare itself innocent. Political responsibility is not something that can be annulled by arbitration or buried under spin. The Labour Party remains accountable for what happened. It was Labour that approved the concession, Labour that defended it against all criticism, and Labour that continued to back the deal and year after year pump more taxpayer money while ignoring the signs.

Let us also then remember that several individuals, including former prime minister Joseph Muscat, former health minister Konrad Mizzi, and high-ranking public officials are facing serious criminal charges in connection with this now-annulled concession.

The ICC's decision does not rewrite history. It does not erase the damning words of Malta's own courts, nor does it undo the years of stagnation and waste. The hospitals deal remains a national scandal, a "failure", according to the ruling, with the "primary victims of this failure (being) the citizens of Malta who were anxious of receiving through a public-private partnership improved health-care services in an improved hospital environment in their beautiful country."

That the Labour government says "Malta has won" when the ruling clearly indicates that the Maltese people were the "primary victims" is beyond belief.

The deal was a betrayal of trust that will stain the record of the Labour administration - both that of Muscat, which initiated it, and that of Abela, which sustained it - for years to come.