From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sali Ram Berisha
2nd President of Albania
In office April 9, 1992 – July 24, 1997
Preceded by	Ramiz Alia
Succeeded by	Rexhep Meidani
Prime Minister of Albania
Incumbent
Assumed office September 3, 2005
Preceded by	Fatos Nano
Born	October 15, 1944 Tropojë, Albania
Political party	Democratic Party of Albania
Profession	Medical Doctor
Religion	Atheist

Dr. Sali Ram Berisha (help·info) (born October 15, 1944) is the Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania. He was also the president of Albania from 1992 to 1997.

Berisha was born in Vicidol, a village near the Kosovo border, in Albania's mountainous northeastern Tropojë region. He studied medicine at the University of Tirana, graduating in (1967). After advanced studies in Paris (France) in the 80s, he conducted a research program on hemodynamics. In 1968 he was elected member of the European Committee for Research on Medical Sciences. A member of Albania's communist Party of Labor, he had run the party organisation at the hospital's Cardiology Clinic. Berisha also taught medicine at the University of Tirana (1980 – 1990), published study books, textbooks and articles on cardiology, inside and internationally. He holds the scientific title Professor Doctor. He has worked as a heart surgeon and as a professor at the Cardiology Clinic in Tirana.

Dr. Berisha 's political career kicked off in 1989 when he demanded the government to slacken political control and allow dissent in articles he wrote in the local press. He somewhat affronted Ramiz Alia, the country's Communist leader, with such a need in a tense meeting Alia had with intellectuals in the middle of that year.

Berisha then supported a student strike in December 1990 at the University of Tirana which, within days, turned political and pressured the government to allow the creation of new parties in Albania. The Democratic Party of Albania was founded by students and intellectuals the same month, and in 1991, Berisha was elected its chair, controlling it until now. He has been elected member of Albania's parliament in 1991, 1992, 1997, 2001 from the pro-Democratic Party constituency of Kavaje.

After the first free elections of Albania, Berisha was elected President of the Republic on April 9, 1992. His administration, under Prime Minister Aleksander Meksi embraced free market policies including trade liberalization and privatization of state property, but also allowed the budding of Ponzi saving schemes. In the political field, he was seen as increasingly oppressive, urging the arrest and sentencing of opposition leader Fatos Nano. Such a record suffered a first crack in November 1994, when Berisha lost a constitutional referendum amidst fears the draft he supported would have given him even more powers.

Despite many reforms, the administration was marred by corruption and abuses. Progress was stalled in 1995 and it resulted in declining public confidence on government institutions. Berisha's Democratic Party won a general election in May 26, 1996, which was marred by accusations of intimidation, manipulation and violent squelching of a peaceful opposition protests discrediting them. The country plunged into a political crisis, as Berisha and his Democratic Party bullheadedly refused to annull the elections -- they had won four-fifths of the seats in parliament -- and the opposition Socialists abandoned the institutions.

The collapse of the Ponzi schemes towards the end of 1996, where it is alleged that Albanians invested $1 billion worth of life savings since 1994, recapped the crisis. The schemes, which were naively portrayed as Albania's success story, lavishly supported the Democratic Party elections in May and November. Albanians, looking to the government for hints on the schemes, perceived a soothing message when Berisha said: "Albanians' money is the most dirt free in the world". The widespread rumor at the time was that the schemes were surviving because of widespread laundering of European criminal money by the schemes.

The schemes failed, one by one, from December 1996, and demonstrators took to the streets to accuse the government of having stolen the money. Again, those demonstrations, which were now taken over by the opposition, were squelched. By March, military depots around the country were looted and for a time it looked like civil war would erupt between the government and demonstrators. Initially, Berisha refused opposition demands to step down. However, early elections were held in June 1997 and they led to the victory of a socialist-led coalition of parties. He resigned from the president's tenure one month after the loss of the elections of the DP and the victory of the left coalition. Since then he has been chair of the DP, the biggest opposition party. In July of 1997, Berisha was replaced by the socialist Rexhep Meidani.

Berisha's peevish record was maintained during the opposition, when he lost two elections, in 1997 and 2001, but refused to accept loss, alleging irregularities; he led continuous demonstrations demanding fresh elections, which, at times would turn violent. But a more moderate image in public, widespread discontent with rampant corruption and sumptuous arrogance of the Socialist Party, and a complex election bill ushered Berisha back to power in the general election of 3 July 2005. On September 3, 2005, after marathon sessions of Berlusconi-style challenges by ruling Socialists on election results, and negotiations with smaller parties, Berisha became Prime Minister.

• History of Albania
• List of Presidents of Albania

• Official Website

Kryeministri
Office of the Prime Minister
Bulevardi Deshmoret ë Kombit
Tirana
ALBANIA

• E-Mail

Preceded by Ramiz Alia	President of Albania 1992–1997	Succeeded by Rexhep Meidani
Preceded by Fatos Nano	Prime Minister of Albania 2005–Present	Succeeded by Incumbent

Presidents of Albania since 1991
Ramiz Alia | Sali Berisha | Rexhep Meidani | Alfred Moisiu