Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri — and Joseph Muscat — have hoped for an electoral outcome that buries those who expose their corruption and crime since Daphne Caruana Galizia discovered what they did in Panama.

A lot has happened in that time that would convince them for a while they have found liberation from the persistent insistence of their detractors that they face justice. That elation would soon be ruined when they found the battle for their survival was not quite over yet. This morning was one further occasion for some temporary, ecstatic relief.

But the day may end less well than how it started for them.