Nationalist MP Marthese Portelli has announced she is resigning from the House of Representatives.
In a Facebook post, Dr Portelli who has been an MP since 2013 said she communicated her decision to Speaker Anġlu Farrugia.
Dr Portelli did not outline the reasons for her resignation, saying only that she would "cherish" the seven years she spent in parliament for the rest of her life.
Elected for the first time in the 2013 general election, she was re-elected in 2017 from two districts - Gozo and the ninth electoral division. During her stint in politics she was also shadow minister for the environment, planning and energy.
Dr Portelli, who is a lawyer by profession was twice elected as the president of the PN executive committee and was the first woman to hold this role.
She was recently among 17 MPs who had urged PN leader Adrian Delia to reconsider his position following the disastrous results of a Malta Today survey.
'Politics should be about persuasion and not confrontation or insults'
In her announcement she thanked Opposition leader Adrian Delia and his predecessor Simon Busuttil under whom she shadowed various portfolios. She also thanked her constituents and the MPs with whom she worked to draft various policies.
"Politics should only be used to create common good. I wish that whoever ventures into politics, will do so to do good deeds," she said.
Looking back at her parliamentary career, Dr Portelli said she never shied away from criticising things which she felt were not right or could have been done better.
"I was proactive and put forward over 300 proposals in various sectors, mainly the environment, planning, energy, transport, real estate and EU funds among others," she added.
In her concluding remarks Dr Portelli once again called on MPs to work in the country's best interests through persuasion rather than resorting to confrontation and insults.
Ivan Bartolo in pole position to fill the seat
Dr Portelli’s resignation means that her seat on the ninth electoral district will soon be up for grabs in a casual election. Though it is early days, entrepreneur Ivan Bartolo, who has publicly called on Dr Delia to make way since last year’s electoral drubbing in the European and council elections, could be the one who replaces Dr Portelli.
However, this depends on whether Mr Bartolo submits his nomination for the casual election.
When contacted, Mr Bartolo said he was still trying to figure out why Dr Portelli had resigned her seat, and described her departure as a big loss to the party.
"I haven't decided whether I will contest the seat, actually I haven't had enough time to think about it yet," Mr Bartolo said.
Under the Maltese electoral system, the winner of this election is determined by opening the ballots of the MPs relinquishing the seat. In this case Mr Bartolo would have a head start as when he had been eliminated in the 28th count, half of his 2,000 votes had been transferred to Dr Portelli.