Dom Mintoff was laid to rest yesterday, signalling the final chapter of a 50-year political legacy, punctuated with adoration and bitter resentment.

But it was God-like worship which spread through Valletta’s streets yesterday as thousands choked the capital to pay their last respects to the former Prime Minister who died last Monday aged 96.

Applause accompanied Mr Mintoff’s coffin from the Palace to St John’s Co-Cathedral for a state funeral, which then proceeded along the roads past Auberge de Castille and ended at the Floriana war memorial, where the cortege finally made its way to a private burial.

Speaking during the homily, Archbishop Paul Cremona attempted to strike a balance of the man known for dividing public opinion throughout his long career: “While not everybody could agree with Mr Mintoff’s methods, no one could deny that he sought better conditions for the workers and the poor.”

Mr Mintoff’s daughter, Yana, elicited loud applause as she prayed that people appreciated the good work done by her father for their better well-being.

As the coffin was taken out of the cathedral, the crowd broke into a spontaneous rendition of the national anthem and chanted “Mintoff, Mintoff”.

Despite the presence of past political rivals like Eddie Fenech Adami, the state funeral moved on without incident amid heavy police presence. There was a short scuffle, however, as supporters tried to get hold of funeral mementos.

Meanwhile, some raised eyebrows as notorious Socialist thugs – who were protagonists of infamous incidents of violence in the 1970s and 1980s – walked behind their idol’s coffin.

The televised funeral was the climax of six-days of tributes, analysis and denunciations of the man who ruled Malta with an iron fist and courted dictators for four terms, before resigning as Prime Minister in 1984. Mr Mintoff remained at the forefront of the political scene until the EU referendum in 2003, five years after bringing down the Labour government led by Alfred Sant – who did not attend the funeral – from the backbench.

But the many that were present in Valletta yesterday chose to forget the 1998 incident which alienated him from the party for a decade and instead chose to laud Mr Mintoff for introducing social services and rebuilding infrastructure, especially in the early 1970s.