The Labour Party has won its fourth election in a row, becoming the first ever political party to achieve such a feat.

Robert Abela will be sworn in as Prime Minister of the country in a ceremony to be held on Monday morning, as thousands of Labour supporters celebrate.

But, beyond the colour, horns and fireworks, one needs to look at various aspects that emerge from the campaign and from the outcome.

First of all, the turnout saw a slight increase, moving up from 85.5 per cent to 87.5 per cent. Although a slight improvement has been registered, voter participation is still low when compared to elections held in 2017 and before that, when more than 90 per cent of the registered voters cast their preference.

This means that there is still a sizeable chunk of the population which has either lost interest in the running of the country, or else wanted to send its message to the political parties. These people saw no need in turning up to exercise their right to vote, not for the bigger parties, but neither for the smaller ones.

Secondly, the Labour Party has more or less half of the advantage it had on the Nationalist Party four years ago. In 2022, Robert Abela had led the PL to a record win of more than 39,000 votes, improving on the two 35,000-wins his predecessor Joseph Muscat had achieved in 2013 and 2017.

This is also a message that has been sent by the electorate, and Labour cannot discard it. The Nationalist Party, with leader Alex Borg elected to lead the party last September, has managed to eat into Labour's lead, and this effectively confirms the main reason why Abela chose to take the country to the polls a year ahead of schedule. More time for Borg would have enabled the PN to settle down more.

For the PN, the result is, yes, another defeat, but it is certainly one that is not as devastating as the previous three. This should give the party the courage to continue renewing itself under its new leader, and restructure its core to be in a better position to contrast the ruling party the next time round.  Borg has been able to raise enthusiasm not seen since the European Union referendum and subsequent election in 2003. For more than a decade, the PN was fighting itself more than it served as an Opposition, but now the party seems to be in a better position to offer an alternative to the Labour government.

Abela has now taken the Labour Party to two consecutive wins, emulating Muscat, but the PN making inroads into Labour's lead will add to pre-election speculation that he will be stepping down in this new legislature, making way for a new Labour leader and allowing time for the party to prepare itself.

The Prime Minister's next task is forming the new Cabinet, expected by the middle of this week. Even here, Abela will be sending signs. Confirming ministers in their portfolios, promoting parliamentary secretaries, introducing new faces and eliminating others will all be messages. In the past legislature, some ministers performed well, others much less so, and Abela knows this.

His choices - also based on how candidates performed in their respective districts - will tell us what he thinks.