Pemëlina Bardhi

**Pemëlina Bardhi** (born 12 June 1980) is a Notoshan politician who has served as deputy prime minister of Notosha in the first and second cabinets of Balush Gjintelma since 2014. She additionally has served as leader of the Notosha Feminist Initiative since its foundation in 2009, and has served as a member of the State Assembly since 2014.

Born in Këllak to a single mother, Bardhi graduated from secondary school in 1998, later enrolling in the University of Këllak to study law. She graduated with her law degree in 2004, and worked as a private practice attorney in contract law for two years. She left the position in 2006, afterwards being hired as a civil rights attorney at the nonprofit organization Femina Notosha, where she represented women involved in gender discrimination or domestic abuse cases. Bardhi began a political career in 2009, cofounding the Notosha Feminist Initiative political party and being elected to serve as its inaugural leader. The party stood in the 2010 parliamentary election as a party without a coalition, but did not win any seats. Bardhi subsequently returned to her law career.

In 2012, amidst a rise in interest in feminism amongst Notoshan and Asbanian women, Balush Gjintelma opened coalition talks with the Feminist Initiative. After four months of negotiations, Bardhi and Gjintelma both confirmed that the Feminist Initiative had joined the New Notosha Alliance coalition, and would stand with them in the upcoming election. With newfound name recognition, the party was elected to the State Assembly in the election, winning four seats. As the coalition had amassed a majority, Bardhi was nominated by Gjintelma to serve as one of his Deputy Prime Ministers in his first cabinet. As a deputy prime minister, Bardhi deputized Gjintelma and could work on projects within any of the government ministries. The party lost two seats in the 2018 parliamentary election, but remained in the majority with the New Notosha Alliance, and Bardhi continued in her deputy prime minister role in the second Gjintelma cabinet.

## Early life and education

Bardhi was born on 12 June 1980 in Këllak – then known as Kelak – to single mother Hijeshia Bardhi (born 1956). Her biological father left her mother while she was pregnant, and Bardhi has never met him. Bardhi was raised by her mother and maternal grandmother in a modest three-bedroom home as an only child. Her mother worked in low-level local government administration, while her grandmother was a retired primary school teacher. When she was 16 years old, her mother married construction worker Gëzimjet Zogjani (born 1953), who became her stepfather.

Bardhi began her education in 1986, attending a local, public primary school in Këllak. While in primary school, Bardhi was a gifted but quiet student, who struggled with immense shyness. She graduated from primary school in 1994, and subsequently completed secondary school in 1998. After graduating, she enrolled in the Faculty of Law at the University of Këllak, graduating with her law degree in 2004.

## Law career

Bardhi began her law career in 2004, after graduating with her law degree. She was hired as a contract lawyer at a private practice law firm in Këllak. As a contract lawyer, Bardhi was responsible for drafting contracts for corporations and advising clients on their contractual obligations. She has stated that she found the work very uninteresting, and desired for a career switch. Despite considering a career in fashion, she ultimately decided to remain in law, but left her law firm in 2006.

After leaving contract law, Bardhi was hired as a civil rights attorney at the women's rights nonprofit organization Femina Notosha. In her position, Bardhi represented women through the organization in gender discrimination cases and advised domestic abuse victims on receiving legal justice. Bardhi found work as a civil rights lawyer to be intellectually stimulating and what she had initially hoped for out of a law career. She continued working in this position until 2014, when she was elected to parliament.

## Political career

### Early politics

Bardhi began her political career in 2009, after cofounding the political party the Notosha Feminist Initiative. Inspired by international political parties named Feminist Initiative, Bardhi and the party's cofounders sought to bring feminism to Notosha, a society they considered to be sexist. In the party's first conference, consisting of only fourteen members, Bardhi was elected as the party's leader after standing unopposed.

She led the party into the 2010 parliamentary election, where they stood as a party without a coalition. The party ultimately received only 169 votes, and did not win any seats. In 2012, amidst a rising interest in feminism amongst Notoshan and Asbanian women, Balush Gjintelma opened coalition talks with Bardhi and the Feminist Initiative. They later both confirmed that the Feminist Initiative had joined the New Notosha Alliance coalition in November 2012, and would stand with the coalition in the 2014 parliamentary election. In the 2014 election, the party won four seats and was elected to the State Assembly for the first time.

### Deputy prime minister

Following the 2014 election, the New Notosha Alliance coalition amassed a majority in parliament. Gjintelma was elected as prime minister, and he nominated Bardhi to serve as one of his deputy prime ministers, being the leader of a party represented in the coalition. As a deputy prime minister, Bardhi deputized Gjintelma and could work on projects within any of the government ministries. Bardhi frequently worked on projects within the Ministries of Justice, Labor and Social Affairs, and Administration, focusing on women's rights.

Following the 2018 parliamentary election, the Feminist Initiative lost two of their seats in parliament, but the coalition remained in the majority. Because of their continued majority, Bardhi remained in her post as deputy prime minister. In 2019, Bardhi was ranked as the top feminist representing Asbanian women by women's magazine *Femme*.

## Personal life

Since 2006, Bardhi has resided in Astina. She has never married and has no children, stating that it was her decision not to marry and that she always preferred single life. She is a self-described dog lover, and has four rescue mutts that she adopted from an Astina shelter.