Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici remains one of the most debated figures in Malta’s post-independence history. A lawyer by profession and an unlikely politician by temperament, his years at the helm of the Labour Party and as Prime Minister between 1984 and 1987 were marked by turbulence, reform, and controversy.

We often forget it, but the closest capital city to Valletta is not Rome, not Tunis, not even Athens. It’s Tripoli. Barely 355 miles to...