About Edi Rama
Edvin Kristaq "Edi" Rama (born 4 July 1964) is an Albanian politician, artist, writer, and former professional basketball player who has served as prime minister of Albania since 2013 and as chairman of the Socialist Party of Albania since 2005. He previously served as Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports from 1998 to 2000 and as Mayor of Tirana from 2000 to 2011. A coalition of centre-left parties led by Rama in the 2013 parliamentary election defeated the incumbent centre-right coalition led by Sali Berisha of the Democratic Party of Albania. Rama was appointed prime minister for additional terms following parliamentary elections in 2017, 2021, and 2025, becoming the only Albanian prime minister to win four consecutive terms. Rama's premiership has been marked by Albania's progress in European Union accession, judicial reform, infrastructure projects, digitalisation of public services, tourism growth and public-sector wage increases. His governments have promoted justice reform and the creation of the Special Structure against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK), which has investigated and prosecuted senior political figures from both government and opposition. He was one of the initiators of Open Balkan, an economic zone of the Western Balkan countries intended to guarantee the "Four Freedoms". At the same time, Rama's long rule has faced sustained criticism over democratic backsliding, corruption, state capture, clientelism, media pressure, public procurement, organised-crime influence and the concentration of political power around the ruling Socialist Party. Various sources have described his governing style as autocratic or increasingly personalistic. Freedom House classifies Albania as a "Partly Free" country in Freedom in the World and as a "Transitional or Hybrid Regime" in Nations in Transit, stating that politics is dominated by clientelist party politics and individual personalities, while elections are frequently affected by vote-buying, manipulation, fraud and gerrymandering. The OSCE/ODIHR final report on the 2025 Albanian parliamentary election stated that the vote was competitive and professionally managed, but took place in a highly polarised environment and without a level playing field, citing reports of intimidation, misuse of public resources and pressure on public employees. Rama and the Socialist Party have rejected accusations of authoritarianism and criminal protection, arguing that their governments have strengthened state institutions, advanced EU integration and allowed independent prosecutors to investigate high-level corruption. In 2026, he faced major anti-government demonstrations known as the Flamingo Revolution, sparked by opposition to a luxury resort project linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, and located near protected coastal areas. Hostility to the project grew into wider protests over corruption, transparency, governance and public land development. Rama is the only Albanian prime minister to have won four consecutive terms. On 27 November 2002, Rama officially changed his first name to Edi. He tried to influence student protests and become part of the newly created Democratic Party of Albania but soon left after a quarrel over ideological matters with Sali Berisha.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.