As an outsider not indoctrinated in the intricacies of inherited Maltese political and cultural mores, I find it impossible to be anything but deeply shocked and saddened by the report of the inquiry into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. 

Reading the conclusions of the report is and should be shocking for everyone. 

Not primarily because it enumerates, once again, the main events and behaviours that have characterised the current regime since 2013. These have been public knowledge for some time. Nor because it chronicles the devious, anti-society and ultimately evil behaviour of many of Malta’s elite. 

No, what is truly shocking is the overall picture presented of Malta’s dominant political regime over an eight-year period. It pieces together in one overall frame a host of individual decisions, behaviours and actions that have brought Malta to its knees ethically and morally. 

It paints a tapestry of a state rotten at its core. It does this in an authoritative report with precise and unambivalent language and a set of conclusions that make for very grim reading. It cannot be readily or simply dismissed and will reverberate for some time to come.

While the report should send shivers down the spines of all Europeans (because of its mirror reflections), it should send shockwaves through the Maltese population. The fact that many Maltese dismiss the report or simply shrug their shoulders makes the situation even more disturbing.

In any other state claiming democratic credentials, such a report would have led immediately to resignations, dismissals and criminal proceedings at the highest of levels.  But, distressingly, not so in Malta.

The report describes a fundamentally corrupt state worthy of any major movie about high- and low-level crime; intimate connections between criminal businesses and political life; captured state institutions and offices; gangsters and enforcers and, as per the script bent coppers. 

Most disturbing of all, it points to the existence of an active cabal of direct and indirect beneficiaries and sycophants and to the ‘collapse of the rule of law’ orchestrated at the highest level. 

At the head of this "octopus" an unchallenged ‘leader’ revered by an army of loyalist followers. And this also accompanied by a publicly funded campaign of vilification of those who dared challenge or disagree - pointedly that one brave murdered journalist.

The Malta described in this report continues to claim that it is a modern ‘liberal’ state respectful of basic democratic values and traditions.  Its apologists go about this business daily. Instead, what we are confronted with is a regime that can only be described as failing on Malta’s promise and on Malta’s people. 

Electoral success and popular opinion polls only serve to highlight further how deep the rot has become. Malta is now recognised internationally as a corrupt state where impunity is normalised.

Nonetheless, the publishing of the report and the subsequent debate highlights three important reasons for hope.

First off, the regime is now riddled with internal contradictions and competing agendas; it is becoming a major challenge to simply manage these.  Eventually, the contradictions will become major cracks and eventually conflicts. The promises and deals made to stitch it all together and those required to keep the wheels on the wagon will come undone. 

We are already witnessing some of the emerging cracks.  Many in the cabal are now publicly scurrying for cover.

Ultimately, the corrupt gravy train cannot accommodate all the greed. The scale of the corruption is such that it cannot be accounted for simply by Malta’s economy – it clearly reaches beyond our shores and herein hope exists also. 

Malta does not exist in a vacuum. As we have seen, the corruption that characterises Malta is being challenged internationally. The regime will not be able to forever claim its wider-world credentials and participation while continuing to equivocate, deny and abuse.   

Finally, the ‘other Malta’ has not been silenced; it continues to struggle against the octopus. Bit by bit, that Malta will win out; one can only hope the price will not be too high.

These are indeed dark days, but the red light is beginning to flash.