Prime Minister Edi Rama used an interview on his podcast to challenge a narrative repeated by political opponents, according to which he was bullied in childhood. In the version he gave himself, Rama portrayed himself as a “rebel” and spoke about two cases in which he says he was physically assaulted.
Rama: I was not bullied
During the conversation with journalist Rudina Xhunga, Rama said that if he were to identify an early trait that, in his view, foreshadowed the leader he would later become, it would be “the refusal of limits.”
He said that from a young age he did not accept limits as an imposition and constantly tried to push or break them. According to him, that approach later accompanied him in his personal and professional life, including his time at the Academy of Arts.
Along the same lines, Rama said he was a “rebel,” but was never bullied. The statement comes in a familiar climate of strong personal communication from the head of government, who often chooses to address political debate through biographical accounts.
The two episodes of violence he mentioned
Rama said that in his life there have been only two occasions when he was beaten. He linked the first episode to a sports match at the “Partizani” Sports Palace against Apolonia, which he described as tense.
According to him, after provocations and tension on the field, he was surrounded by several people and struck until he was left on the ground. He admitted that as a player he was at times provocative, linking the incident to the heated atmosphere of the match.
The second case, according to Rama, was in January 1997, when he said he was ambushed near the entrance to his home and left there with his attackers thinking he had died. He added that doctors in Albania and France had told him that he survived, among other things, because of his physique.
Response to Berisha’s statements
Asked about claims made publicly by Sali Berisha regarding the 1997 episode of violence, Rama rejected them and responded in harsh tones.
According to Rama, the incident had no “connection to a crime of passion,” and he was not with a man, as Berisha has claimed. The prime minister said that that night he was with a girl he was living with and with a friend from Shkodra who was living in their apartment.
What he said about the people who assaulted him
In the same conversation, Rama indicated that he knows some of the people who assaulted him. According to him, one of them repented and has since died, while the other did not admit it directly but, according to the prime minister’s version, showed remorse indirectly.
The statements remain part of a personal account given by Rama himself, with no other verifying elements presented in this public appearance.
The prime minister’s account focused more on building his personal and political profile than on any new factual development regarding the events mentioned.
In essence, Rama chose to reject the label of bullying and bring back into focus two episodes of violence that, according to him, marked his life.