The report of the public inquiry into the 2017 assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia does not just indict the state for a degree of responsibility in the horrific crime, by its failure to recognise and avoid the “real and immediate risks” to her life. It also condemns those at the top of the Labour government for seeding and nurturing a culture of impunity in the national institutions, leading to a collapse in the rule of law.

This was by design, intended to allow “a lust for money and profits” to be satisfied by “businessmen and public officials”.

This damning view has been expressed countless times, in many different ways, in the aftermath of the journalist’s murder. It was a view held before the assassination, by Caruana Galizia herself as she sought to expose the “crooks who are everywhere you look now” and who flourished in the intimacy between big business and politics. This is what led to her assassination.

The difference now is that this conclusion has been reached, objectively and authoritatively, by a panel of respected senior judges, appointed by former prime minister Joseph Muscat in agreement with the Caruana Galizia family. It demands a commensurate response from Robert Abela.

The three judges listened to dozens of witnesses to determine whether there was any state responsibility in the murder and whether the state had – and crucially, still has – the means in place to “avoid the development of a de facto state of impunity”.

Some of those alleged to have been involved in the assassination are now facing justice. The former prime minister himself had to face a political reckoning. Legal reforms are underway. These are signs that the pendulum is swinging back in favour of accountability.

But make no mistake, impunity is still alive and well, and still being fed by some of the top people in our institutions. On the very morning that the inquiry report was published, for example, parliament’s speaker Anġlu Farrugia turned down an opposition request to call witnesses other than the tax commissioner to testify on the alleged breach of ethics by Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar. Two days earlier, Matthew Caruana Galizia’s testimony during the compilation of evidence against Yorgen Fenech, charged with conspiracy over the murder, led to calls on the police to finally move against those involved in the Electrogas scandal.

In 2017, Abela, the continuity candidate, was an MP, an adviser to the former prime minister and sat in cabinet.  What must he do now?

It is encouraging that he immediately published the report, brought MPs back from the summer recess to debate it and recommitted the government to ongoing reforms. His apology to the Caruana Galizia family for the serious shortcomings that led to the murder, and his stated readiness to consider compensation in the interests of reconciliation, were the right moves.

President George Vella must now follow suit, on behalf of the state. Next, the Labour Party must completely disassociate itself from Joseph Muscat.

Would this be enough? Having found “abundant proof” of the cosy relationship between government officials and big business, the report recommends that steps be taken to rein in these links. This is the heart of the problem, one created by politicians and perpetrated by them. They cannot be the ones to solve it. An independent commission, made up of ‘wise’ men and women of undoubted integrity, should be set up to ensure follow-through on the inquiry panel’s key recommendations, with a commitment from both parties to take the actions and enact the laws proposed.

Labour enjoys a commanding lead in the polls and the temptation to call a snap election must be strong. But Abela would do well to learn from the experience of Muscat, who tried to mask the stench of Panama Papers corruption using his 2017 electoral victory. He is now a toxic, disgraced ex-politician, aged 47.

Abela must instead focus his party’s energy on making sure it never digs itself into such a pit of criminality and impunity again. Washing away the bloodstains demands no less. When he does call an election, the electorate must be clear: Labour needs to be held accountable for the failures in this black episode.

It was the family who best expressed the hope that must lie ahead: that the inquiry findings will lead to the restoration of the rule of law in Malta, protection for journalists, and an end to impunity.