Pandeli Sotir Majko (born 15 November 1967) is an Albanian socialist politician. He served twice as Prime Minister of Albania; once from 1998 to 1999, and again in 2002.

Political career

Early career

Majko has been a member of the "Euro-Socialist Youth Forum of Albania" (FRESH) since its foundation in 1992. FRESH is a member of the

International Union of Socialist Youth The International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) is an international youth labour organization, whose activities include publications, supporting member organizations and organization of meetings. Originally named the Socialist Youth Internatio ...

. From 1992 to 1995, Majko served as president of FRESH. In 1992 he entered the

Albanian Parliament The Parliament of Albania () or Kuvendi is the unicameral representative body of the citizens of the Republic of Albania; it is Albania's legislature. The Parliament is composed of no less than 140 members elected to a four-year term on the b ...

as MP for the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

. In 1997–2001 he took part in the parliamentary committee charged with the task of drafting the new

Constitution of Albania The present Constitution of the Albania, Republic of Albania () was adopted by the Parliament of Albania on 21 October 1998 and certified by presidential decree on 28 November 1998, following a public referendum which approved the new Constitution ...

.He also held the post of Minister of Defense when the Socialist Party was in power. In 1997–1998 Majko was secretary general of the

and head of its parliamentary group.

Prime minister

First term (1998–1999)

From September 1998 to October 1999 Majko held his first government as prime minister of Albania. He was the youngest Prime Minister of Albania, appointed when he was 30 years old in 1998 for the first time.

Second term (2002)

After the government of Ilir Meta, he briefly came back to premiership from February to July 2002. He subsequently held the post of Minister of Defence from July 2002 to September 2005 in the government of

Fatos Nano Fatos Thanas Nano (; born 16 September 1952) is an Albanian socialist politician who served as Prime Minister of Albania in 1991, from 1997 to 1998 and from 2002 to 2005. He was the first leader and founder of the Socialist Party of Albania and ...

. Following the government's defeat in the 2005 elections, he returned to his former position as secretary general of the Socialist Party.

Later career

In 2006, Majko came out in support of Montenegro's vote for independence from Serbia. He was quoted celebrating the reduction in Albania's shared border with Serbia. He is a member of the General Council of the

Transnational Radical Party The Transnational Radical Party (TRP), whose official name is Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty (NRPTT), is a political association of citizens, members of parliament and members of government of various national and politic ...

. He didn't manage to get elected in 2025 elections after serving for 33 years as a deputy in the parliament.

Personal life

Majko was born in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

, to a family originally from Gjirokastra. In March 2013, after voting in favor of changing the name of the Liqenas to "

Pustec Pustec (; ) formerly known as Liqenas (1973–2013), is a village in Pustec Municipality, Korçë County, eastern Albania. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Prespa, it is home to much of the Macedonian minority in Albania. Geography ...

" through a

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

status, he denied having Slavic roots and introduced the beginning of his family, which started with a German doctor who moved from Parga to Gjirokastra due to the occupation of Parga by Ali Pasha of Ioannina, where he later married a local woman and was nicknamed "Memeci" due to the lack of fluent communication in the Albanian language, a nickname that would later become a surname. But later, this surname was changed to Majko by Pandeli's great-grandfather due to the trade relations that the family had at that time. In April 2016, at his request, Pandeli Maiko was granted Kosovar citizenship through the mediation of former Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga.Majko receives Kosovo citizenship decree with Jahjaga's signature
(al)

References

External links

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Majko, Pandeli 1967 births Living people Politicians from Tirana Albanian people of German descent German people of Albanian descent Naturalised citizens of Kosovo 21st-century Albanian politicians Socialist Party of Albania politicians Prime ministers of Albania Government ministers of Albania Defence ministers of Albania