Kostaq Kota

Kostaq Kota

Kostaq (Koço) Kota (* 1889 in Korça , then Ottoman Empire , † 1949 in Burrel ) was an Albanian politician who was Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Albania between 1928 and 1930 and again from 1936 to 1939 .

Life

Kostaq Kota worked as a primary school teacher and became general secretary in the Ministry of Education in 1913. He took part on January 31, 1920 at the Lushnja Congress (Këshilli Kombëtar i Lushnjës) . On December 27, 1923 he was elected a member of the Constituent Assembly (Kuvendi Kushtetuës) . Between February 1 and September 23, 1925, he was Minister of the Interior in the third cabinet of Prime Minister Ahmet Zogu . On May 17, 1925, he became a member of the Chamber of Deputies (Dhoma e Deputetëve) and served as its President between June 1, 1925 and June 7, 1928 . From May 11 to September 1, 1928, he also held the office of Minister of the Interior in the seventh Zogu cabinet. On August 17, 1928 he was elected member of the Constituent Assembly (Asambleja Konstituente) , which became Parliament after the constitution of the Kingdom of Albania (Statutit të Mbretërisë) came into force .

On September 5, 1928, Kota Ahmet Zogu succeeded as Prime Minister and held this office until he was replaced by Pandeli Evangjeli on March 6, 1930. During this time, he formed two cabinets, in which he held from September 5, 1928 to March 6 1930 also took over the office of interior minister again.

In the elections of November 17, 1932 and January 31, 1937, he was re-elected as a Member of Parliament and again served as President of Parliament between 1932 and 1936 (Kryetar i Parlamentit) . He was a member of parliament until the occupation of Albania by Italy on April 7, 1939. On November 9, 1936, he succeeded Mehdi Bej Frashëri as Prime Minister for the second time, which he now also held until the Italian occupation on April 7, 1939. During this time he formed his third cabinet. His term of office was marked by tensions between those close to Italy and parties seeking more independence, which was also reflected in the cabinet members' religious affiliation, which, like all Albanian governments, was religiously mixed. Kostaq Kota was a member of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania .

After the Italian invasion, he fled to Greece with Ahmet Zogu. He was a representative of the loyal legality movement Legaliteti and a member of a bilateral commission for cooperation with Greece, which also included Dhimitër Falo and Koço Tasi from the Balli Kombëtar , Xhafer Leskoviku from the occupation government and Selman Riza as representative of Kosovo . In December 1944 Kostaq Kota was kidnapped by the Sigurimi secret service in Thessaloniki , brought to Albania and sentenced in spring 1945 to 30 years imprisonment in a special court set up by the Labor Party of Albania (Gjyqi Special për Kriminelët e Luftës dhe Armiqtë e Popullit) . He died in Burrel Prison in 1949 .

Web links

• Members of the Parliament of Albania
• Robert Elsie: A Biographical Dictionary of Albanian History , p. 253, IB Tauris, 2013

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 3 Zogu III cabinet (February 1 to September 23, 1925)
2. ↑ 7 Cabinet Zogu VII (May 11 to September 1, 1928)
3. ↑ Albania: Prime Ministers (rulers.org)
4. ^ Cabinet Kota I (September 10, 1928 to January 13, 1929)
5. ↑ 2 Kota II Cabinet (January 14, 1929 to March 5, 1930)
6. ↑ Albania: Prime Ministers (rulers.org)
7. ↑ 3 Kota III Cabinet (November 9, 1936 - April 1, 1939)
8. ↑ Ines Angjeli Murzaku: Returning Home to Rome: The Basilian Monks of Grottaferrata in Albania , p. 179, Analekta Kryptoferris, 2009
9. ↑ Hubert Neuwirth: Resistance and Collaboration in Albania 1939-1944 , p. 159, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2008
10. ↑ Blendi Fevziu: Enver Hoxha: The Iron Fist of Albania , IB Tauris, 2016

predecessor	Office	successor
Ahmet Zogu	Prime Minister of Albania 1928–1930	Pandeli Evangjeli
Mehdi Bej Frashëri	Prime Minister of Albania 1936–1939	Shefqet Vërlaci