All things considered, this was one of the cleaner election campaigns in recent memory. While the two major parties did not shy away from throwing light jabs towards each other, the general discourse - especially from the Opposition's end - was much more positive.

As a journalist, it was interesting to note the lack of character assassination attempts.

Throughout the campaign, Alex Borg's Nationalist Party focused primarily on presenting its vision for a better Malta through its policy proposals. Its criticism of the Labour government was only made through light remarks.

Contrast this to the politics undertaken by the PN under his predecessor, Bernard Grech. When Grech was the Opposition leader, the back-and-forth between the PL and the PN was more ferocious.

Criticism over the country's gradual democratic backsliding under Abela's administration, including through the controversial magisterial inquiry reform, have also taken a backseat during this campaign. The PN also barely mentioned the shelved planning bills (Bills 143 and 144) and their pending status or the fact that the Chief Justice and Auditor General appointments were also forced to be delayed till after this election by Abela's government.

From the PL's end, its once frequent remarks that the PN has been taken over by "an extremist wing" were excluded from this campaign as well.

However, the Labour Party still resorted to criticise the PN for its governments from 20 years ago, as if these condemnations are still direct indictments against Borg's party today... even though Borg was still a student in primary and secondary school in the 2000s.

It doesn't look like there is any genuine animosity or disdain between the leaders of Malta's largest political parties. Even during this month's debates - when both leaders showed up, that is - sure Abela and Borg did not speak or look at each other before cameras started rolling, but at least they remained cordial and good-spirited.

But has the PN kept its campaign too positive for a party in Opposition seeking to overthrow an established PL government for the first time in 13 years, following three consecutive heavy electoral defeats?

Across the 33-day campaign in late April and all of May, a few incidents arose that the PN could have used to condemn the government and potentially capitalise on but, overall, didn't. Strategically, the PN never shifted away from prioritising its vision above all else, even after the Prime Minister's "contrabandist/fuel smuggler" gaffe or after 13 families were evacuated in Naxxar in fear of more building collapses.

These two episodes, in other countries, might have resulted in protests and much greater outrage. But it was business as usual here. No protests were called in response to these events - something that might have happened had the Opposition not clearly chosen to step back from more aggressive mudslinging.