New municipal elections were held in 1902 and Panaiot Kardzhiev became Mayor. He was born in 1853 in Arbanasi, but grew up in Ruse where his family moved. Because of the national liberation activities of his brother Toma Kardzhiev and the killing of his father by the Turks, his family moved to Bucharest.
Panaiot Kardzhiev enrolled in the First Bulgarian Volunteer Corps and took part in the battles of Shipka, Sheinovo and Stara Zagora. After the Liberation he started working in Rousse Municipal Court, then in Razgrad Court of Appeal. In 1887 he was appointed Prosecutor. Soon after that he moved to Varna. His other brother - Georgi Kardzhiev, a radical socialist, published Varna Newspaper.
Panaiot Kardzhiev was Mayor for about a year, till July 1903, when, after a new consolidation of the political forces, he resigned. This was the time of the second Stambolovist regime.
During his short term in office, Panaiot Kardzhiev continued the efforts to solve the urbanisation problems of the town - pavement of the streets in the centre, building water fountains in the gipsy district. All municipal properties, movable and immovable, were listed with details. They were evaluated at 3,575,995 leva, while the deficit of the municipal budget was 959,484. Non of the major problems of the town could be solved. After his resignation from the Mayor's post, Panaiot Kardzhiev worked as a lawyer. He was elected an MP in the Fifth Great People's Assembly. He died in 1929.