Very late in the day, the independent public inquiry into the car bomb murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia has got under way. Following the intervention of her family, the Mallia inquiry is now bound by fresh terms of reference that facilitates the family’s participation as well as that of the public.

That is as it should be. The powerful and sometimes harrowing testimony of the journalist’s husband and one of her sons, heard on Friday, raises the expectation that the inquiry panel will be unstinting in its efforts to get as close to the truth as possible on whether the State “caused” a real immediate risk to Ms Caruana Galizia’s life, among the board’s other objectives.

The attainment of that objective is now more critical than ever following the sinister and shocking developments surrounding the investigation into the murder, placing Castille firmly inside the orb of suspicion.

The government had dragged its feet no end on setting up the inquiry. It was finally forced to take action by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) earlier this year.

Then, the family raised concerns over the make-up of the original panel. In what Andrew Caruana Galizia, one of Ms Caruana Galizia’s sons, called “one of the most painful fights we have ever fought” – because the family had to negotiate with people whom they deem responsible for his mother’s death – two members of the inquiry board were replaced and the terms of reference broadened.

A few changes stand out in particular. First, the term “assassination” was used rather than “death” or “murder”, as had been the case in the first official announcement of the inquiry in September. The government has also agreed that hearings only be held in camera, and that restrictions only be made on the disclosure of evidence, when the board considers these to be “strictly necessary”. Hence yesterday’s hearings held in public. Further, the Prime Minister – whoever that may be – must table the report in Parliament within five days from receipt.

For these and other reasons we should be able to look forward to a credible and wide-ranging report, one that does not mince words or couch the truth; one that meets the expectations of PACE which, when announcing the adoption of its resolution last June, insisted that the whole truth must emerge.

There are other serious issues related to Ms Caruana Galizia’s murder that the Labour government, both old and new, will have to answer for. In its resolution, PACE pointed out that her work “focused on corruption among Maltese politicians and public officials”. It also noted that “fundamental weaknesses” in the island’s system of checks and balances “allowed numerous major scandals to arise and go unchecked in Malta in recent years”.

This, we now know, is putting it rather mildly. The “dysfunctional system” PACE spoke of is being exposed as falling victim to a deliberate, sustained, malicous attempt to manipulate institutions and processes for the personal ends of those who wielded power.

That does not exclude deliberate attempts to derail justice in this case.

It is therefore imperative the country’s new leaders keep the inquiry out of the political arena so the board can work without any undue pressure or interference. This will be one of the first major tests of the new government.

The inquiry report must then be used, among may other inputs, to help chart the way forward for a country in desperate need of new direction.