Democracy, that is. And her beauty lies in a very simple fact. We politicians campaign, journalists dissect and bloggers blog away. But, ultimately, it is the people who decide. On the ballot sheet the final word is theirs.

On Saturday, the people spoke out loud and clear. For the fourth set of elections in a row they delivered a landslide historic victory to Joseph Muscat, the Labour Party and our track record. 

By itself, this already makes this election a stand-alone. Yet, this election marks another historic first.

With their vote, the people brought down the third PN leader in a row. Lawrence Gonzi, Simon Busuttil and Adrian Delia now form a dejected queue of political losers. In Malta’s history, no other party leader has ever defeated three opposing ones in a row. Only Muscat did.

These are facts, not opinions.

Again, the beauty of democracy is that it does not allow anyone or anything to change election results, massage them, beat them into submission, erase them or somehow explain them away. 

Election results are election results and it is on them that the entire apparatus of the state rests, particularly a European one.

The people have also spoken to our main competitors, the Nationalist Party. 

For months, their new, now defeated, leader campaigned heavily on a key platform: use your vote to force government to change direction, he insisted. 

Well, voters gloriously and unceremoniously ignored Delia’s clarion call. He called on them to go in one direction and they went in the opposite one, yet another manifestation of the beautifully unforgiving power of democracy. The politician speaks, the people decide.

Now here’s a heads-up. To try not be blown off his seat by his own party and his ‘new way’ from going into implosion mode, Delia is going to be peddling a predictable line in the coming days: Labour did not win this election, it’s just that the Nationalist Party lost it, you see. 

Why? Simple, Delia will add, Labour managed to turn out its voters but all those who undermined him have prevented him from turning out the PN’s. 

Look at the historically low poor turnouts in the PN strongholds, he will scream from the highest turret as the castle burns below.

Yet another manifestation of the beautifully unforgiving power of democracy... the politician speaks, the people decide

Sadly, in doing so, Delia will be turning his face away from the beauty of democracy, our increasingly European democracy. Like his two predecessors, he will be arrogantly oblivious to the fact that the era of political parties owning votes, let alone voters, has been steadily ebbing away. 

With every plebiscite, those who choose how to vote, rather than how they are ‘supposed to’, have been increasing in droves. And with that, let us leave the upcoming bloodbath in the PN and turn to our party and our government.

This result has, once again, confirmed that voters appreciate what we are delivering and how we are delivering it. 

They voted on the reality they, their community and their country are living. Their vote is also a seal of approval of, and their confidence in, our vision of the future. They know where we are taking them and they have fastened their seatbelts.

In this context, allow me a positively bracing moment. Muscat’s electoral success as prime minister – the most successful in our history, that of this government and our party – should spur us to forge ahead with even more vigour, determination and vision. In successive elections, voters have shown us that, as long as we deliver the goods, we are here to stay.

Society, the economy and our politics are bound to change in the future, not least because of our efforts. Of course, we look at this result with humility and a sense of responsibility. But, clearly, we are taking the country in the right direction. A direction once again approved of by the country.

One final point.

I am writing this article before we officially know who the elected MEPs are. Heartfelt congratulations go to all those who made it as well as those who did not. They have all given a service to this country and I trust they will continue doing so.

The voters have spoken and now let everyone get on with their job, most of all those of us in government. 

That is democracy. Is she not lovely?

Chris Fearne is the Deputy Prime Minister.

This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece