A few minutes before 7pm on Wednesday the House of Representatives, by not coming up with a two-thirds approval of a government-sponsored motion, delivered a bloody nose to the head of government which was completely unprecedented in Maltese political history.
It was not a vote of no confidence but the import was practically the same. Robert Abela has been defeated on a matter of considerable importance, on the workings of the Constitution.
He wanted Parliament to agree with him and discard the entire bench of judges and magistrates, most of whom had been appointed by him or his predecessor, except one and only one.
There is no way out from this situation except his resignation.
Obviously, being who he is, he will not take this advice. The past days have shown how obstinate he can be. That is why at the end a bloody nose was the only solution.
There is now this coda involving the President inviting both leaders, separately, to San Anton. There I have to stop, for logistical reasons.
We will continue to monitor the situation in the coming weeks.
I have bad vibes. The two parties should not have been driven to this 'who blinks first' situation, for this encourages mutual intransigence.
Abela expected that everybody agree with him and follow his indication, rather, his diktat. He knows what is good for the country, you know, and those who doubt must have evil intentions.
He even managed to give a huge boost to Alex Borg who I only the previous Sunday had practically written off. No mean feat.
For a man who has to negotiate all the time, with foreign leaders, Abela seems unable to be flexible and compromise, at least with fellow Maltese.
As I try to write I can hear the radio stations that support Labour straining every muscle to explain away what happened and did not happen.
What happened was entirely predictable. It was always going to end up like this but Abela must have thought he was going to get his way. The people around him are too weak to stand up to him. So the party has become completely Robert-dependent.
I saw Chris Fearne walk out of the House. And Edward Zammit Lewis. And Roderick Galdes. A penny for their thoughts.
The water has long been lapping at this King Canute's heels but he had out-faced them all. Until he bumped into this lawyer from Gozo.
Perhaps the Italians do it better. When they come to elect the President, each member of the enlarged electoral college votes, in secret, and the 'grandi manovre' can commence. There is no diktat by the heads of parties.
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