Only 47 per cent of Labour voters want Robert Abela as leader; 36.3 per cent want Joseph Muscat, the rest undecided or want neither. In stark contrast, 72 per cent of PN voters want Bernard Grech.

Why is Abela’s support with Labour voters so catastrophically low? The reason is Muscat. Uninvited and unwelcome, Muscat joined the campaign. Not the official one. He wasn’t invited. For good reason. Muscat’s presence only creates problems for Abela and the nation. As pressure mounts on Malta to fix its problems with rule of law, media freedom and corruption, Muscat drags Malta down deeper into the quagmire.

Abela cannot be seen consorting with Muscat. He doesn’t want Muscat. Abela actively excludes him. Muscat’s attendance at candidates’ events is boycotted by Labour’s media.

Muscat knows he’s not welcome. He knows his presence damages his party and erodes Abela’s popularity. But the more Muscat does it. Why does Muscat keep showing up to ‘spontaneous’ public rallies? Because he derives pleasure from poking Abela’s open sore?

Muscat’s oversized ego can never accept being eclipsed by the puppet who replaced him. He cannot stomach anybody displacing him from the pedestal of most successful Labour leader – least of all this Johnny-come-lately who found the red carpet laid out for him. Muscat reminded everybody – Abela wasn’t there during those hard years in the desert of opposition. Abela shed neither tears nor sweat building the movement.

Muscat wasn’t on a short walk with Glenn Bedingfield. He was weaponising the adulation of the masses to remind Abela that he, Muscat, controls everything – even Abela’s future. Not short on vanity, Muscat marched through Victory Square with his own initials and a Maltese cross emblazoned on his mask. He appropriated the symbol of the nation and fused it with his initials – Malta is Muscat, Muscat is Malta – I am the state.

Muscat smiled smugly as an adoring fan unfurled a giant banner of Muscat’s face with the words - L-aqwa żmien - the best of times. As she passionately shouted “Joseph il-Kink”, somebody in the background nervously reminded her “and Robert too”.

Robert tiptoes gingerly around Muscat. He failed to denounce him or condemn his damaging appearances. Abela shrinks away from putting him in his place. Abela is terrified of Muscat. Abela plays decisive but fails to lance the boil, allowing it to fester, poisoning the whole body.

Muscat has his own nightmares too. That’s the reason he’s gatecrashing Labour’s campaign. The search at his home brought Muscat to his senses – he is vulnerable and may yet face justice. His only shield against prosecution is Abela. And the biggest threat to Muscat’s impunity is an Abela landslide. An electoral success greater than Muscat’s would finally empower Abela to cast Muscat adrift. And Muscat knows it.

When polls showed Abela’s victory would outclass Muscat’s, Muscat panicked. The Machiavellian narcissist played his hand well. Invited or not, he was going to join the campaign – and he would emerge the winner, Invictus.

If Abela’s victory falls short of Muscat’s glorious triumph, Muscat wins, retaining his crown of ‘kink’. “There is nobody quite like our Joseph” (Joseph tagħna bħalu m’hemmx), his ego preserved, his invincibility cemented. Meanwhile, he determinedly undermines Abela. Muscat embarrasses the prime minister who bites his tongue and puts up with the humiliating challenge to his authority.

Abela’s name is sullied further by the constant leak of damaging revelations – €17,000 monthly Planning Authority bonanza, stinking business deals with shady characters, €45,000 quick buck from a “small plot in Żabbar”. What else does Muscat know about Abela?

Robert Abela tiptoes gingerly around Joseph Muscat- Kevin Cassar

If Abela wins with a greater majority, Muscat will still claim the success his. Muscat will boast he benevolently lent his support, campaigned, mobilised the vote for such a huge victory. It couldn’t have happened without him. And Abela would be eternally obliged. The victorious candidates Muscat endorsed certainly will be. Muscat plants his loyalists at the heart of government ready to defend him.

But Muscat’s sweetest revenge will be Bedingfield trouncing Abela’s sister-in-law. That message will surely hit home.

While Muscat retains his impunity, detente will reign. But the minute Muscat’s protection is threatened, he will retaliate. One small eruption was triggered by that morning search. Abela dutifully responded with a public attack on the judiciary and the magistrate.

As more of Muscat’s suspicious deals surface – his €120,000 severance package, government offices for private use, €540,000 from Accutor AG, €20,000 from Fortina’s Zammit Tabonas – the more protection he’ll require. But it’s only a matter of time before even the US runs out of patience with Abela’s inaction over corruption and criminality. Like his co-conspirators Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi, Muscat risks being banished from the US.

As Muscat becomes increasingly isolated, he will seek protection outside the law. He will call people into the streets, he will bring Abela down if he has to. His ominously aggressive streak was evident in his menacing Facebook video posts. He casually disrupts his own party’s carefully choreographed election campaign. He threatens the nation with his return, his favourite weapon of blackmail – if they bother me, I’ll be back.

That a man so warped and malignant can retain such a hold on the nation is not surprising. Our times are littered with self-obsessed egocentric strongmen – Trump, Duterte, Bolsonaro, Erdoğan and Vladimir Putin. Nothing good comes from them. We expect nothing less from Muscat. He rendered himself a persona-non-grata even within his own party. His presence corrupts, corrodes, contaminates. Nobody in his inner circle escaped unscathed – Mizzi, Schembri, Chris Cardona, James Piscopo, Joseph Cuschieri, Adrian Hillman, Silvio Valletta, Yorgen Fenech, Brian Tonna, Karl Cini.

Abela’s turn will come too. He too has been infected with Muscat’s virulent indecency.

Muscat and his allies once ruled supreme. Now they lie banished in disgrace – pariahs, outcasts, shunned. By extending his unrequested Judas’s kiss, Muscat intentionally drags Abela down with him. Abela’s fate is sealed. No matter how big Abela wins, Muscat triumphs.