Controversial blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia was last night nominated among the 28 people "transforming European politics, policy and ideas" by Politico news organisation. 

Ms Caruana Galizia was nominated along the lines of Ryanair's Michael O'Leary, London mayor Sadiq Khan and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

"The best way to think of Daphne Caruana Galizia is as a one-woman WikiLeaks, crusading against untransparency and corruption in Malta, an island nation famous for both," said Matthew Kaminski, Politico's European executive editor.

Crusading against untransparency and corruption in Malta, an island nation famous for both

The Brussels-based Politico 28 magazine, published for the event held last night, showered praise on the blogger: To John Dalli, a former European commissioner whom she helped bring down in a tobacco-lobbying scandal, Caruana Galizia is "a terrorist". To opposition MPs, she's a political force of nature, one who fortunately has her guns aimed at the other side of the aisle. 

Ms Caruana Galizia's mantra is simple: blog relentlessly about the "cronyism that is accepted as something normal here. I can't bear to see people like that rewarded." Nothing scandalous is too big or too small, be it false declarations of residency by the beneficiaries of Malta's cash-for-passports scheme or the evening-wear decisions of the prime minister's wife, the magazine reported. 

"When she dines out, guests from other tables come over to wish her well. But her unease with what she sees as the island's twin scourges - big money and shadowy politics - leaves her bitter."

Fear of where her country has headed has made her unapologetically pro-EU: "Over my dead body will my children be stuck on these rocks," she says.

Explaining the list of the nominees, Mr Kaminski said the people nominated are the ones likely to shape 2017 and beyond.

"Whether for the good or the bad, well that is for readers to decide for themselves... We cast our net widely and solicited nominations from readers. Then editors hashed out – not without a few disagreements – this list of the shakers, stirrers and shapers of our world. And then we ranked them in order of their impact."

Jesuit Refugee Service director Katrine Camilleri was named in the same list last year.

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