Edi Rama: The Story of a Man Who Promised Reform and Chose Power

To understand why Albanians are in the streets, you need to understand the man they are protesting against. Edi Rama was once seen as a symbol of hope — an artist, a reformer, a modern face for a post-communist society trying to find its way. What happened since is a story about what power does to people who hold it too long without accountability.

THE ARTIST-REFORMER

Rama was born in Tirana in 1964 to a prominent Albanian artistic family. His father, Kristaq Rama, was one of Albania's most respected sculptors. Edi studied art and became a painter. After the fall of communism he spent time in Paris, then returned to Albania. In 2000, he became mayor of Tirana — and he genuinely transformed the city. He painted Tirana's grey communist buildings in bright colours. He demolished illegal structures blocking public spaces. He won international attention and prizes. When he won the national election and became Prime Minister in 2013, it felt to many Albanians like something real was beginning: an intellectual, a modern man, someone who understood Europe and could lead Albania toward it.

THIRTEEN YEARS IN POWER

Rama has now been Prime Minister for thirteen consecutive years. In that time, Albania has made real progress: it opened formal EU accession negotiations, built new roads and infrastructure, and maintained political stability. But the weight of thirteen years in power has also produced what critics describe as a transformation into something darker. Courts have faced political pressure. State media has been domesticated. Opposition politicians have faced criminal investigations that many observers describe as politically motivated. Business allies of the government have accumulated contracts and land at significant scale.

THE INCINERATOR SCANDAL

In 2022, a major corruption scandal emerged around waste-incinerator contracts. Former Environment Minister Lefter Koka was arrested and later jailed on charges of corruption connected to how incinerator contracts worth hundreds of millions of euros were awarded. Former Deputy Prime Minister Arben Ahmetaj was also charged in connection with the same affair — a man who had been one of the most senior members of Rama's government. The incinerator scandal was not a minor bureaucratic irregularity. It involved the systematic abuse of public contracts for private enrichment at the highest levels of government. Rama's response was to express dismay at the individuals while defending his government overall.

THE BALLUKU AFFAIR

In early 2026, corruption allegations against Infrastructure Minister Belinda Balluku — another senior Rama cabinet member — triggered fresh public protests. Rama's response was to give her his "unwavering support" and describe her as the target of a "witch hunt." When the Prime Minister's response to corruption allegations against his own ministers is to attack the prosecutors and defend the ministers, the rule of law is not working as it should.

TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL

Albania's score on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index fell by 11 places in 2025, reaching rank 91 out of 182 countries. This decline happened under Rama's watch and represents an accelerating perception of corruption rather than improvement. For comparison, EU member states typically rank in the top 40. Albania's rank of 91 puts it near countries with serious governance challenges — not where a candidate for EU membership should be heading.

THE MEDIA PROBLEM

Albania does not have a free press in any meaningful sense. Major media outlets are owned by business interests close to the government. Critical journalism faces financial pressure, advertising withdrawal, and in some cases direct legal harassment. The BiEPAG (Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group) analysis of the Flamingo Revolution noted specifically that "lack of transparency and media capture" are central to understanding why the movement emerged: ordinary Albanians had no way to find out about the Kushner deal, the land clearing, or the permit situation through state-owned or government-aligned media. They found out through social media — and then they went to the beach to see for themselves.

THE KUSHNER DEAL AS SYMPTOM

For many Albanians, the Kushner resort deal is not an isolated event. It is the latest and most visible expression of a pattern: the government decides what will happen to public land, protected areas, and national assets — without public consultation, without transparent process, and without democratic accountability — and then presents the outcome as a done deal. The protected coastline of Vjosa-Narta, the military island of Sazan, the wetland home of the flamingos: these were committed to a foreign investor through a special fast-track process while Albanians were not informed, not consulted, and not asked. That, for many, is what thirteen years of Rama has produced: a government that no longer feels it needs to ask permission from the people it governs.