Edi Rama (born 4 July 1964) is an Albanian politician, artist, writer, and the c

urrent Prime Minister of Albania since 2013. He has also been leader of the Soci
alist Party of Albania since 2005. Rama served in the government as Minister of
Culture, Youth, and Sports from 1998 to 2000, and he was Mayor of Tirana from 20
00 to 2011. He led a coalition of socialist and left-wing parties that won the J
une 2013 parliamentary election, defeating the conservative bloc of Prime Minist
er Sali Berisha.
Personal history[edit]
Rama was born in Tirana to Kristaq Rama, a sculptor and native of Durrs, and Anet
a Rama (ne Koleka), a graduate in medicine from the region of Himara.
Edi Rama s familial roots ultimately go back to the village of Dardh in the Kora reg
ion, an Albanian village founded during the Ottoman times by Orthodox Christians
moving into the mountains to avoid Ottoman administration.[2] Rama himself was
baptized Catholic,[3] not Orthodox, but he has stated that I do not practice any
faith other than to the self and other people, but I don t believe that the existe
nce or non-existence of God is a matter that can ever be resolved by mortals.
As a teenager, Rama became involved in sports[4] by becoming a player of Dinamo,
a leading basketball team, and the Albania national basketball team.[5]
Following the collapse of communism in Albania, he became involved with the firs
t democratic movements. He entered the student movement but soon left after a qu
arrel over ideological matters.
Meanwhile, while a professor at the Academy of Arts of Albania, Rama published a
book with various notes together with publicist Ardian Klosi entitled Refleksio
ne.
He also became engaged
and later married
to actress Matilda Makoi, with whom he h
ad a son, Gregor Rama. He separated from Makoi and in 1994 emigrated abroad.
Upon arriving in France, he conducted the life of an artist by taking part in ma
ny exhibitions with his close friend Anri Sala.
In January 1997, during one of his trips back to Albania he was physically assau
lted.
In 1998, Rama was asked by Prime Minister Fatos Nano to become Minister of Cultu
re. He accepted and immediately became known for his extravagance in a variety o
f ways.
In October 2000, he entered and won the race for the Tirana mayorship as a Socia
list Party candidate against writer Besnik Mustafaj. After taking office, he und
ertook a radical campaign to return many portions of Tirana's center and Lana Ri
ver into their original forms by demolishing hundreds of illegal buildings.
In 2003, he appeared before the Albanian parliament in an inquiry commission on
abuse of funds in the Municipality of Tirana. During the session, he was seen sp
eaking using a loudspeaker. The commission was eventually closed and Rama acquit
ted.
Also in 2003, he won a second term by defeating lawyer Spartak Ngjela, and a thi
rd consecutive term by beating Democratic Party of Albania candidate Sokol Ollda
shi. During the later campaign, his rivals published some photos of Rama in inti
mate poses on a nudist beach in southern France.[6]
In October 2005, Rama became the leader of the Socialist Party following the res
ignation of Fatos Nano. As mayor he compiled the Tirana City Master Plan includi
ng the Skanderbeg Square project.[7]

In 2010, Rama married Lindita Basha (also known as Lindita Xhillari), a civil so
ciety activist. She is Muslim.[8]
In the 2011 local elections, Rama lost by a small margin to a young candidate of
the Coalition of the Citizen, Lulzim Basha. The elections were criticized by th
e monitors and the international community as they were decided in a debatable c
ourt ruling.[9] The first ballot count gave Rama the victory by a margin of 10 v
otes, but afterwards the Central Electoral Committee decided to open the ballot
boxes and count the ballots cast in the wrong boxes.
In November 2011, Rama published a reflection book on his years as mayor of Tira
na entitled Kurban.