
KUKËS/ TIRANA/ UNIT 5 – It was a beautiful and emotional conclusion to a nearly 35-year political career, the final decision of the Socialist Party to finally return MP Mandi Pajko to the wild, to his natural habitat of Unit 5 in Tirana.
On Tuesday morning, the SP political ecotourism team carefully opened the door of the special van of the nature conservation department, waiting for MP Pajko to re-acclimatize to the environment that was once so familiar to him, in the alleys near the former New Tirana Station in the capital. The experts observed how the MP, initially shy because he was used to life in captivity, was not leaving his cage.
It only took a few seconds for him to recall the shops, the streets, the geography of the neighborhood that once gave him so much fame. Political archaeology specialists still remember how, for a time, the toponyms of Unit 5, once mini-municipality 5 and earlier, the area of ??New Tirana, were unified into “ Mandi Pajko's palace,” “Pajko's alley,” “Pajko's area,” etc.
A few moments later, the researchers noted how the deputy reluctantly, but then with increasing confidence, began to walk through the alleys of his former small homeland. People began to greet him, and some shopkeepers even reminded him of some unpaid shopping his wife had done here 25 years ago. Then Pajko exclaimed with joy, “Yes, I remember it well, that’s how it was with the saleswomen. This is my neighborhood, the socialist citadel of Tirana!”
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"It's one of those episodes that both makes you happy and sad," said with emotion the young socialist, Episa Spirodhalla, present at the touching ceremony.
She then blurted out in vain because she saw the cameras, "I remember that we young socialists, with great revolutionary momentum, embarked on this difficult path full of ups and downs, inspired by the great example of comrade Mandeli Pajko...". Episa continued her speech in the background, after the cameras realized that the Speaker of Parliament had conspired and fled.
As is known, Mandi Pajko's last mission was the difficult electoral district of Kukës, where the socialists have a very difficult time winning. The harsh climate, rocky terrain and wild winters of that area were a challenge even for Pajko, who indeed has a somewhat Korça origin, but was raised in Tirana and has lost his continental instincts.
And yet, I Gjati took Mandeli (my friend, Mandolina, he affectionately called him) to Kukës precisely because he had an advantage: He was a beloved figure both for the people of Kukës and for Kosovo across the border.
Today's young people don't remember, but Mandi Pajko was the prime minister of Albania during the war in Kosovo, at the age of 17. Those were difficult times and people matured quickly, then turned gray at 25. He successfully faced the Kosovo refugee crisis in 1999: At first he cried under the table, muttering, "Bob, what did I need this job for?" Then, as a strategic and far-sighted leader, he told NATO representatives who asked for logistical support, "Take whatever you want, do whatever you want, give us the keys to the office, they brought me here for nothing, I'll come back sometime to see how you work."
In the end, when the NATO bombings ended and the refugee families returned to their homes, Pajko was surprisingly welcomed as a hero in Kukës and Kosovo.
It turned out that everything NATO and other international organizations had done to help Kosovo, the poor believed was done by Pajkua with his incomparable vision.
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Mandi Pajko belongs to that generation of politicians who made an era in Albania. Unfortunately, that era continues today. He and some of his friends, after graduating from high school, received their first salary in life as MPs, then as ministers and/or prime ministers.
European urban legends say that it is precisely Mandi Pajko, the real character of a joke by an elderly European official, who was telling a colleague: "I just met a 30-year-old former Albanian prime minister."
"I'm a veteran in politics, " the other replied, probably seriously.
To this day, many Albanian high school students dream of becoming directors in the state, then continuing on to higher education, with the potential to become ministers. This is thanks to the positive example provided by Pajko, his former colleague Lilo Çepani, etc.
Meanwhile, Mandi's place in Kukës as the central committee's envoy was taken by Eduard Calci, who, upon receiving the appointment, declared: "The doctor accuses us of stealing votes in Kukës. This is slander, but whatever it is, we will not steal votes like him."
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Meanwhile, the socialist wildlife observers lost sight of Mandi Pajko. He had disappeared into the alleys, apparently adapting very quickly to the habitat. To allay concerns, the socialists have been sending people to secretly observe Pajko these days, to see how he is doing with his new life. But the last envoy, Defense Minister Pize Vengu, declared that he could not see anything, even though he had taken professional binoculars. It was I Gjati who noticed that Vengu had not removed the black covers from his binoculars at all.
Before the May 2025 elections, the government will conduct another census of protected species, and along with the Dalmatian pelican, the socialists released into the wild will also be identified and counted. Then, conservationists hope that Mandi Pajko will be spotted, along with individuals with whom he shared a common history, such as Damik Nokle, Gramor Zuçi, Musa Peqini, etc. They are now a valuable asset of our political ecotourism, and are even expected to soon enter the world list of intangible heritage, preserved by BURLESCO.
Note: Patronageist is a satirical ecological column