Dom Mintoff dominates the Sunday newspapers

Today's newspapers were inevitebly dominated by Dom Mintoff's state funeral and the former prime minister's legacy.

All newspapers dedicated their front pages and editorials to the formr Labour strongman and carried pictures from yesterday's state funeral.

MaltaToday carried a front-page headline "Mintoff was given a Papal send-off." In it's editorial entitled "The Mintoff metamorphosis," MaltaToday described Mintoff as "an enigmatic figure at the best of times, who has in death been reinvented almost to the point of apotheosis."

MaltaToday's editorial added "Mintoff, a man formerly interdicted by the Church and literally demonized by half the population, has now been elevated almost to the status of a Catholic saint, of all things."

It added that this metamorphosis was not only limited to the Church. "Even Mintoff's former political adversaries appear to have come together in an external show of respect and admiration for the man they once (not so long ago) demonized and abjured."

Sunday newspaper Illum carried a picture of Mintoff's coffin draped in a Maltese flag on its front-page, saying the country gave Mintoff the final salute.

In its editorial, Illum said "Whatever is said, Mintoff remains a gian in the country's history. As with anything else in life, the narrative of such a strong politician spanning over 50 years can neither be a completely positive one nor a completely negative one."

The Sunday Times reported Mintoff's state funeral under the heading 'The end of an era'.

The Sunday Times' editorial was dedicated to Mintoff's eternal rival and adversary Eddie Fenech Adami.

The newspaper quoted Fenech Adami's statement that Mintoff's contribution to political development was more positive than negative.

The Sunday Times Said "Dr Fenech Adami - being the giant he is, being the Christian who lives and not just talks his faith that he is - was able to set apart all the personal pain, not least harrowing memories of his home being attacked in 1979 and his late wife being beaten, to make an objective judgment on how, to him, the figure of Dom Mintoff stands in Maltese history; in the history the two of them formed, occasionally together and more often in spite of each other."

On its part, The Malta Independent's front-page said "Mintoff laid to rest." In its editorial, the newspaper said "There was absolutely no call to turn the already tense situation occasioned by the death of Dom Mintoff into an orgasm of provocation, vituperation and insults," adding "Right now, a fair assessment is impossible, not with all this very rabid controversy and impossible to reconcile assessments: is he the worst leader since Gaddafi or is he a saint?"

The GWU newspaper, It-Torca carried a picture of Mintoff's coffin being carried inside St John's Co-Cathedral under the headline "The people behind Mintoff till the end."

In its editorial, It-Torca thanked Mintoff for "turning this colony into a nation with its own identity, giving it political freedom." It added that Malta bemoans the death of "il-Perit."

Labour newspaper, KullHadd carried a supplement loaded with pictures from Mintoff's life and yesterday's state funeral.

KullHadd said Malta is "indebted" to Mintoff, adding that the former Labour leader led Malta out of the Middle Ages and into the twentieth century.

The Labour Party newspaper noted that yesterday's funeral was "Mintoff's last mass meeting," in which the persons who love him spoke in his stead.

The Nationalist Party's newspaper Il-Mument carried the headline "The Last Farewell to Mintoff."

While reminding its readers of its stern opposition to Mintoff in the seventies and eighties and asking "could Mintoff have caused less damage to the people and the country," Il-Mument saluted Mintoff's memory and augured that the people "can now make a serene and balanced judgment."