H.E. Sali Berisha
His Excellency Sali Berisha is the former President and Prime Minister of the Albanian Republic. Born under the communist Hoxha regime, Berisha openly published calls for the reform of the Albanian Party of Labor and an end to Albania’s policy of hostile isolation to the world. Joining the newly-formed Democratic Party (DP), Berisha participated in mass student protests calling for pluralist democracy in Albania. Soon, he was elected as the first Chairman of the DP and then as a Member of Parliament from the Kavajë constituency. In 1992, he ran for president and became the first freely-elected head of state in Albanian history. During his first term, he focused on reformation, lustration, and economic privatization. In 2005, he was appointed Prime Minister, and served in that capacity until 2013. Berisha graduated from the medical school of the University of Tirana in 1967 and is a cardiologist by profession. Berisha serves on the International Advisory Council of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.
