Giovanna Debono will be resigning from the Nationalist Party but will stay on as an MP, she told reporters in Gozo today.

She said she was doing so to defend herself and her husband and is convinced that her husband is innocent.

As she had stated some months ago, she will not be seeking re-election.

She said she will be issuing a statement in the coming hours.

Mrs Debono was elected to Parliament for the first time in 1987, and was elected in all subsequent elections. She served as parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Social Policy between 1995 and 1996, and as Minister for Gozo between 1998 and 2013,

In her resignation letter, Mrs Debono once again categorically denied all allegations against her and her husband.