On Sunday morning, March 9, 2008, Labour Party carcades celebrated election victory. Labour’s bungling secretary general, Jason Micallef had declared that Labour won with a strong majority. That afternoon, Labour’s celebrations ceased abruptly. By 5pm, TVM hinted at a PN victory. After four nail-biting hours, PN secretary general Joe Saliba confirmed victory. But Micallef still insisted, in a statement, that the parties were still neck and neck. The PN’s victory was razor-thin. Alas, that victory was truly pyrrhic. It spelt five years of turbulence, disloyalty and treachery from within the party in the midst of a global economic crisis. It led to the relentless decline of the PN and paved the way for the hijacking of the country by “a gang that brought shame to the country”, in President George Vella’s words.