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| '''Sali Ram Berisha''' ({{IPA-sq|saˈli bɛˈɾiʃa|Sq-Sali_Berisha.ogg}}; born 15 October 1944) is |
'''Sali Ram Berisha''' ({{IPA-sq|saˈli bɛˈɾiʃa|Sq-Sali_Berisha.ogg}}; born 15 October 1944) is a cardiologist serving as ]. He leads the ] (PD). | ||
| A former secretary of the committee of the ] in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Tirana, he abandoned his career as a cardiologist and university professor to become the leader of the Democratic Party in the 1990s. From 1992, after the ], he served as the ] until ] in 1997 in the wake of the collapse of ]s. From 1997 to 2005, Albania was governed by the ] (PS) for two mandates, while he stayed in opposition. | A former secretary of the committee of the ] in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Tirana, he abandoned his career as a cardiologist and university professor to become the leader of the Democratic Party in the 1990s. From 1992, after the ], he served as the ] until ] in 1997 in the wake of the collapse of ]s. From 1997 to 2005, Albania was governed by the ] (PS) for two mandates, while he stayed in opposition. | ||
Revision as of 16:28, 17 December 2011
| Sali Berisha PM | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Prime Minister of Albania | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 11 September 2005 | |
| President | Alfred Moisiu Bamir Topi |
| Deputy | Ilir Rusmali Gazmend Oketa Genc Pollo Ilir Meta Edmond Haxhinasto |
| Preceded by | Fatos Nano |
| President of Albania | |
| In office 9 April 1992 – 24 July 1997 | |
| Prime Minister | Vilson Ahmeti Aleksandër Meksi Bashkim Fino |
| Preceded by | Ramiz Alia |
| Succeeded by | Rexhep Meidani |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1944-10-15) 15 October 1944 (age 80) Viçidol, Albania |
| Political party | Democratic Party |
| Spouse | Liri Berisha |
| Alma mater | University of Tirana |
| Profession | Cardiac doctor |
| Signature |  |
Sali Ram Berisha (Albanian pronunciation: [saˈli bɛˈɾiʃa]; born 15 October 1944) is a cardiologist serving as Prime Minister of Albania. He leads the Democratic Party of Albania (PD).
A former secretary of the committee of the Party of Labor in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Tirana, he abandoned his career as a cardiologist and university professor to become the leader of the Democratic Party in the 1990s. From 1992, after the fall of communism, he served as the President of Albania until his government collapsed in 1997 in the wake of the collapse of pyramid schemes. From 1997 to 2005, Albania was governed by the Socialist Party (PS) for two mandates, while he stayed in opposition.
In 2005, the Democratic Party won the general elections, and he became the Prime Minister after his coalition formed the new government. In 2009, he was re-elected Prime Minister, after the Democrats declared a narrow win of general elections but were forced into a coalition with the Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI) through not winning enough seats on its own for the first time since the start of multi-party democracy in 1991.
Sali Berisha is married to Liri Berisha (nee Slobodanka Ramaj, daughter of Rexhep Ramaj and Milica Bulatović), a pediatrician. The couple has two children, a daughter, Argita Malltezi (nee Berisha), and a son, Shkëlzen Berisha.
Early life and career
Berisha was born in Viçidol, Tropojë District, Kukës County, northern Albania, near the border with Kosovo. He studied medicine at the University of Tirana, graduating in 1967. He specialized in cardiology and was subsequently 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 while having been enrolled a few years earlier. Apart from his native Albanian, he speaks English, Italian and French fluently. 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. Upon his return to Albania, Berisha 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, where he worked for the elaboration of scientific researches strategies for “Health for all”. 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 (APL) 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.
In December 1990, Berisha joined, on the very first day, a series of student demonstrations that forced the government to approve the establishment of a multi-party system. Berisha emerged as the leader of the Democratic Party of Albania (DP), the first and largest of the new opposition parties. 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.
President (1992–1997)
See also: 1997 unrest in AlbaniaAfter the first free elections of Albania, Berisha was elected President of the Republic on 9 April 1992. Following his election as the second President of the Republic of Albania, Sali Berisha and his government were engaged in a profound course of political, economic, institutional, legislative and multifaceted reforms. Therefore, the complete privatization of land and residencies, as well as of all small and medium state enterprises, was accomplished over the period ’92-’96; prices and exchange rates were fully liberalized, and Albania changed from a country of a three figure inflation rate and economic growth regression of –20% into a country with a one-figure inflation rate and with an average economic growth rate of 9% in ’92 and, in ’93 – ’96, 75% of GDP was generated from the private sector. Albania opened towards the West; it became a member of the Council of Europe in 1995; it signed the Partnership for Peace Agreement in 1993, and it established a close cooperation with European Union countries and the United States.
All laws of the communist dictatorship were replaced with new laws of European standards, and a series of institutions that had not been in place before, like the Constitutional Court and High Council of Justice, were established.
Despite many reforms, the administration was marred by corruption and abuses and allowed the budding of Ponzi saving schemes. Progress was stalled in 1995, resulting in declining public confidence in government institutions. Berisha's loss of political support became clear in November 1994, when Berisha lost a constitutional referendum amidst fears that the revisions he supported would have given him even more powers.
During the Bosnian War, it is alleged that the Albanian government willfully defied the UN-posed embargo on Yugoslavia by smuggling oil tanks through the Yugoslav-Albanian border at present day Montenegro.
Berisha's Democratic Party won the general election on 26 May 1996, though it 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 the Democratic Party refused to annul 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, into which it is alleged that Albanians invested $1 billion worth of life savings from 1994, recapped the crisis. The schemes failed, one by one, from December 1996, and demonstrators took to the streets to accuse the government of having stolen the money. Those demonstrations were then taken over by the opposition.
By March, military depots around the country were looted and for a time it looked like civil war would erupt between the government and rebels. Berisha refused opposition demands to step down, and Multinational Forces of NATO were required to step in and take the situation under control. After their intervention in Albania, early elections were held in June 1997, leading to the victory of a socialist-led coalition of parties. He resigned from the president's tenure one month after the DP lost the 1997 elections to the left coalition. In July 1997, Berisha was replaced by the socialist Rexhep Meidani. Since then he has been the chairman of the DP, which became the biggest opposition party. He eventually returned to power and, since 2005, has been the leader of the Democratic Party.
Opposition leader (1997–2005)
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2011) |
Sali Berisha led the coalition of the center right wing parties in the general elections held in 5 rounds in June–August 2001. Although OSCE/ODIHR International Election Observation Mission declared these elections as being manipulated. The coalition won 37% of the votes. Berisha led continuous peaceful demonstrations demanding fresh elections.
Prime Minister (2005-ongoing)
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On 3 July 2005 Sali Berisha was able to lead a coalition of five right center parties into the 2005 parliamentary elections, which eventually won a majority of 74 MPs from a total of 140. He was appointed Prime Minister of Albania on 8 September 2005.
On 10 June 2007, Sali Berisha met with U.S. President George W. Bush in Tirana. Bush became the first U.S. president to visit Albania and repeated his staunch support for the independence of neighbouring Kosovo from Serbia: "At some point in time, sooner rather than later, you've got to say, enough is enough. Kosovo is independent."
On 15 March 2008, Berisha faced the toughest challenge of his government when an ammunition dump exploded in the village of Gërdec near Tirana, causing the deaths of 26 people and injuring over 100. Defense Minister Fatmir Mediu resigned, and the press reported many irregularities at the blast site, operated by an Albanian company that deactivated the country's aging ammunition and then sold it for scrap.
In June 2009, Berisha's Democrats declared a narrow win in the parliamentary elections. Berisha's alliance won enough seats to form a government, though it fell one seat short of a majority during the elections of 28 June 2009, having to join forces with a splinter socialist party, the Socialist Movement for Integration of Ilir Meta, whom Berisha appointed to the post of Deputy Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs, and later Minister of Economy, Trade and Energy. It is the first time since the start of multi-party democracy in 1991 that a ruling party had been forced into a coalition through not winning enough seats on its own.
The 2009 elections have been called flawed by the socialist opposition, who have asked for a recount of the ballots. Berisha has refused any recount of the votes, on the ground that the Albanian Constitution does not foresee such procedure. For that reason he called the opposition to the parliament to change the constitution, but the Socialist Party refused. The political crisis between government and opposition has worsened over time, with the Socialists abandoning parliamentary debates for months and staging hungerstrikes to ask for internal and international support. The EU attempted a conciliation, which failed. The ongoing political crisis was one of the reasons for the EU's refusal to grant Albania official candidate status in late 2010.
On 21 January 2011, clashes broke out between police and protesters in a anti-government rally in front of the Government building in Tirana. Four people were shot dead from government special forces. The EU issued a statement to Albanian politicians, warning both sides to refrain from violence, while Berisha defined the protests and the subsequent charges by judges upon policemen as stages of an attempted coup against him.
Controversies
- Pyramid schemes in Albania
- 1998 failed coup d'état
- Yellow House Case
- 2008 Gërdec explosions
- 2011 Albanian opposition demonstrations
See also
References
- Nonneman, Niblock, Szajkowski, Gerd, Tim, Bogdan (1996). Muslim communities in the new Europe. Ithaca Press. p. 146. ISBN 0863721923.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Sali Berisha | Keshilli i Ministrave
- Biberaj, Elez (1998). Albania in transition: the rocky road to democracy. Westview Press (Boulder, Colo.). p. 377. ISBN 0813335027.
- "Bush Is Greeted Warmly in Albania". The New York Times. 10 June 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
- "Albania PM re-election confirmed". BBC News. 27 July 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
- EU Observer, 10 November 2010
- SETimes.com, 21 January 2011
- EU Observer, 24 January 2011
- Yahoo News
External links
- Official website
- "Supplier Under Scrutiny on Arms for Afghans", New York Times article
- "Sali Berisha" Query at Google Scholar
- Sali Berisha news (in Albanian)
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| New political party | Leader of the Democratic Party 1991–1992 |
Succeeded byEduard Selami |
| Preceded byGenc Pollo | Leader of the Democratic Party 1997–present |
Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded byRamiz Alia | President of Albania 1992–1997 |
Succeeded byRexhep Meidani |
| Preceded byFatos Nano | Prime Minister of Albania 2005–present |
Incumbent |
| Heads of state of Albania | |
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| Principality of Albania (1914–25) | .svg) |
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| Italian protectorate (1939–43) | .svg) |
| German occupation (1943–44) | .svg) |
| Communist Albania (1944–91) | .svg) |
| Republic of Albania (since 1991) |  |
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