The decision by Nationalist MP Louis Deguara not to run again for election has nothing to do with his stand against divorce but stems from the fact that “30 years in Parliament is enough”.

“I’ve been saying that I would call it a day since the day after the last election,” he said in a short telephone call yesterday.

He told Parliament on Monday night he would vote against the divorce Bill to be loyal to those who elected him and because he had always insisted divorce did not solve problems of marital breakdown. The majority of constituents in his district voted in favour of divorce but he was convinced his core voters were against.

He said he was not interested in messages he had received from those in favour of divorce warning him of the electoral consequences of voting no because he did not intend to contest the election.

Dr Deguara said his decision not to contest the election again was simply due to the fact that he was 64 and spent 30 years in Parliament, he said when contacted yesterday. “I’m retiring. I think 30 years in Parliament is enough.”

Dr Deguara, a medical doctor from Naxxar, entered politics in 1981 and was elected in every election since. He was appointed parliamentary secretary in 1995 and was promoted to Minister of Health in the­­ 1998 election and reappointed to the same office in April 2003.