John Dalli is the sixth prominent Cabinet minister to have resigned his post in recent political history.

In a country where there is no culture of political resignations, Mr Dalli's decision to step down - the first in six and a half years - is certainly newsworthy.

Justice Minister Charles Mangion, currently Labour Party deputy leader, resigned his ministerial post in the Labour government in January 1998 after assuming responsibility for not seeking Cabinet approval before recommending a presidential pardon to a man found guilty of drug possession.

Prior to him, Lino Spiteri stood down from the post of Finance Minister in March 1997, just five months after assuming his role. The decision led to one of the highest profile resignations in recent years.

The reason cited then was that Mr Spiteri had agreed to take on the ministerial post to contribute to just the first phase of the Labour government. Many, however, believe that it was Mr Spiteri's disagreements with then Prime Minister Alfred Sant on the sticky issue of VAT, which led to the resignation.

In July 1994, Nationalist Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Lawrence Gatt resigned so as to be free to act over "mistaken" remarks made in a report by the Permanent Commission Against Corruption about matters involving his ministry.

Tourism Minister Reno Calleja resigned in September 1983, citing "personal reasons", leading to a major Cabinet reshuffle.

Labour Finance Minister Guzè Abela resigned in July 1979, allegedly because of his disquiet at the direction of his party.

In June 1971, Dr Joe Micallef Stafrace was given the portfolio of minister of trade, industry, agriculture, fisheries and tourism. However he only kept his post until October that year, resigning for reasons never officially disclosed.