Edi Rama (born 4 July 1964) is an Albanian politicipolitician,an, 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 lefleft-wingt-wing parties that wonwon 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 Durrës, and Anet a Rama (née Koleka), a graduate in medicine from ththee region of Himara. Edi Ramas familial roots ultimately go back to the village of Dardhë in the Korça reg ion, an Albanian village founded during the Ottoman times by Orthodox Christians baptized moving into Catholic,[3] the mountains not Orthodox,to avoid Ottomanbut he hasadminis stattration.[2]ed that I do Rama not himself practice was any faith other than to the self and other people, but I dont believe that the existe nce or non-existence of God is a matter that can eveverer 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 ququ 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 Makoçi, with whom he hh ad a son, Gregor Rama. He separated from Makoçi 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 AlAlbaniabania he was physically assau lted. In 1998, Rama was asked by Prime Minister Fatos NanNanoo 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 ththee 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 lawlawyeryer 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 SociSocialistalist Party following the res ignation of Fatos Nano. As mayor he compiled the TiTiranarana 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 mmarginargin to a young candidate of the Coalition of the Citizen, Lulzim Basha. The elelectionsections 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 boxesboxes.. In November 2011, Rama published a reflection book on his years as mayor of Tira na entitled Kurban..