Renaissance man: Edi Rama EDI RAMA won election in June offering a “renaissance”. Albanians will have to wait until parliament convenes on September 9th, but hopes for the former mayor of Tirana, the capital, and his Socialist Party are already high—a “new Camelot” says a foreign official. The new government is mostly young. Six women are in the cabinet: one is defence minister. Several ministers, such as Erion Veliaj, who ran a successful anti-corruption group, have backgrounds outside mainstream politics.Albanians were ready for a change from the era of Sali Berisha, a towering figure who straddled politics for two decades. Though it is one of the few European countries not to have experienced a recession in recent years, worries about crime and corruption have helped to slow Albania’s integration into the European Union: after three years of failed attempts, it may gain candidate status in December. Mr Veliaj says the government’s aim is to reassert the state’s authority: illegal construction is rampant, as are backhanders in the health-care and education systems. He wants to re-examine big public procurement deals. He also…
