Sali Berisha
Sali Ram Berisha (Albanian: [saˈli bɛˈɾiʃa] ; born 15 October 1944) is an Albanian cardiologist and conservative politician who served as the president of Albania from 1992 to 1997 and 32nd prime minister from 2005 to 2013. Berisha serves as Chairman of the Democratic Party of Albania since 2022 and has held the position previously from 1990 to 2013. He also serves as the incumbent Leader of Opposition in the Albanian parliament.
Sali Berisha
Position established
Position established
Party of Labour (1968–1990)
Democratic Party (1990–present)
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He has been banned from entering the United States and the United Kingdom after being accused of "involvement in significant corruption" and links to organised crime groups and criminals that pose a "risk to public safety in Albania".
On 9 September 2021, Berisha was expelled by party chairman Lulzim Basha from the Democratic Party's Parliamentary Group due to legal issues with the US Department of State.[1] This decision led to put 79-year-old Berisha starting a nation-wide movement to remove Basha as leader of the Democratic Party, causing a major rift in the party's internal structures, between Berisha's and Basha's supporters.
On 30 December 2023, Berisha was placed under house arrest for allegations regarding corruption in his previous governments.[2]
Early life and career[edit]
Berisha was born in Viçidol, then Tropojë District, in northern Albania, to a Muslim family of mountain farmers, his family are a part of the Berisha tribe. As a child, he tended sheep.[3]
After his father became a functionary of the Party of Labour of Albania, Berisha enjoyed a higher education and was then able to study medicine at the University of Tirana, graduating in 1967. With a one-year scholarship, he specialized in cardiology in Paris.[3]
Subsequently, he was appointed as an assistant professor of medicine at the same university and as staff cardiologist at the Tirana General Hospital. At the same time, Berisha became a member of a discussion forum for changes in the Albanian Party of Labor[4] while having been enrolled as a member a few years earlier. During the 1970s, Berisha gained distinction as the leading researcher in the field of cardiology in Albania and became professor of cardiology at the University of Tirana. In 1978 he received a United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural (UNESCO) fellowship for nine months of advanced study and training in Paris.
He also conducted a research program on hemodynamics that attracted considerable attention among his colleagues in Europe. In 1986 he was elected to be a member of the European Committee for Research on Medical Sciences.
In an interview for the Albanian Writers League newspaper published also in the international press, Berisha demanded that the remaining barriers to freedom of thought and expression be ended, that Albanians be granted the right to travel freely within the country and abroad, and that Albania abandon its isolationist foreign policy. At an August 1990 meeting of the nation's intellectuals convened by President Ramiz Alia, Berisha urged the Albanian Party of Labor to abolish the third article of the communist constitution which sanctioned that the Party of Labor had the hegemony of the Power, to recognize the Human Rights Charter, the drafting of a new democratic constitution, and to remove all monuments of Stalin in the country.
In an article published in the Bashkimi newspaper on 17 September 1990, Berisha condemned what he termed the "cosmetic reforms" of the Alia regime, which had only served to aggravate unrest within the nation. Without political pluralism, he argued, there could be no true democracy in Albania.
Berisha emerged as the chairman of the Democratic Party of Albania (DP), the first and largest of the new opposition parties. All leading members of the party wore white coats during demonstrations. He was formally elected DP chairman in February 1991 at the party's first national congress. He was elected member of Albania parliament in 1991, 1992, 1997, 2001 from the constituency of Kavajë.
Opposition leader (1997–2005)[edit]
The murder of DP MP Azem Hajdari on 12 September 1998, triggered two days of violent protests in Tirana. During Hajdari's funeral procession on 14 September 1998, armed DP supporters ransacked government offices, and for a brief period, held the PM's office, the parliament building, and the Albanian State television and radio building.[12] Estimates of casualties during the protests and riots ranged between 3 and 7 deaths and 14 and 76 injuries.[13][14] After 72 hours, the Government restored order and reclaimed tanks and armored personnel carriers seized by DP supporters that were being held at the Democratic Party main offices in Tirana. Parliament subsequently lifted Berisha's immunity due to his alleged role in what the government described as a coup d'état, but no charges were laid. Berisha blamed the Socialist Party of Albania and its leaders for the murder. Twelve people were arrested for their alleged involvement in the violence.[15] In February 2002 five people, including Jaho Mulosmani, were sentenced for the murder by a Tirana district court.[16]
Sali Berisha led the coalition of the center-right parties in the general elections held in five rounds in June–August 2001.
In the winter of 2004, a number of protests with over 20,000 people were organized by the opposition led by Berisha demanding Nano resign as prime minister which became known as the "Nano Go Away" Movement (Levizja "Nano Ik").[17]
Opposition leader (2022–present)[edit]
Following the decision of Lulzim Basha in expelling Berisha from the Democratic Party parliamentary group.[27] Prior to this, members of the Democratic Party who had been also unsettled with Basha over election results following two consecutive losses in parliament.[28] Calling for him Basha to resign. However Basha was not willing to resign. On 9 September 2021, Basha had expelled Berisha from the Democratic party due to issues concerning the United States and Berisha and his Public Designation by the United States Department of State.[29][30] On 11 December at Arena Kombëtare, Berisha and members who were against Basha during the national council voted to remove Basha as leader of the Democratic Party.[31] On 8 January 2021, Berisha and members of the Democratic party who were against Basha staged protests outside the Democratic Party headquarters which resulted in the RENEA being called in due to the protests becoming violent.[32][33]
On 21 March 2022, due to demand Lulzim Basha stepped down from party leadership which resulted in Berisha being elected.[34][35] However, despite Enkelejd Alibeaj claiming he is the official leader of the Democratic Party, Berisha is considered the de facto leader.[36] As de facto leader, on 7 July 2022, he staged protests against the Albanian government over prices and wages in front of the Prime Minister's Office.[37] Berisha also stated that the future of Albania and the Albanians was at risk and the people should decide in their own hands.[38]
On 6 December 2022 during protests Berisha was assaulted in the face resulting in him being given a black eye.[39] The assailant's mother had told the media that her son had been suffering from mental problems for 5 years.[40] He is awaiting trial.[41] President Begaj, Prime Minister Rama, and Lulzim Basha all condemned the assault on Berisha.[42][43] Berisha himself forgave the perpetrator.[44]
Personal life[edit]
Berisha is married to Liri Berisha (née Ramaj), a pediatrician. Liri Berisha is the president of Albanian Children Foundation. Her foundation focuses on children with autism and Down syndrome. The couple have two children, a daughter, Argita Malltezi (née Berisha) who is a professor of law at the University of Tirana, and a son, Shkëlzen Berisha.[45]
On October 21, 2023, Berisha's son in law, Jamarbër Malltezi, was arrested by Albanian police on accusations of corruption and money laundering allegedly committed during Berisha's tenure as Prime Minister of Albania. Berisha himself was accused of aiding and abetting the alleged crime, and had his passport confiscated by the prosecutors, until the trial's end. Berisha has strongly denied the allegations, and has publicly accused the prosecutors of a political attack, claiming that they were acting on the orders of Prime Minister Edi Rama.[46]
Controversies[edit]
Human rights abuses[edit]
In 1996, Human Rights Watch published a report regarding human rights abuses perpetrated under Berisha's administration.[52] It claims that:
1996 – Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (23 April 1996)[60]
