About Sali Berisha
Sali Ram Berisha (born 15 October 1944) is an Albanian politician and retired cardiologist who served as President of Albania from 1992 to 1997 and as the 32nd Prime Minister of Albania from 2005 to 2013. He was the founding chairman of the Democratic Party of Albania (DP), the first major opposition party created after the end of communist one-party rule, and has remained one of the dominant and most polarising figures in post-communist Albanian politics. Berisha entered national politics in 1990 during the final months of communist rule and was elected president after the Democratic Party won the 1992 Albanian parliamentary election. His presidency was associated with market reforms, Albania's opening toward Western institutions, and severe democratic backsliding. Human-rights and election observers reported intimidation, media pressure, police violence, politicised courts and extensive irregularities during the 1996 Albanian parliamentary election. The collapse of pyramid investment schemes in 1996–1997 led to the 1997 Albanian civil unrest, the loss of state control over much of the country, early elections, and Berisha's resignation as president in July 1997. After eight years in opposition, Berisha returned to power as prime minister following the 2005 Albanian parliamentary election. His premiership included Albania's signing and entry into force of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the European Union, accession to NATO in 2009, the construction of major road infrastructure including the Durrës-Kukës Highway, and visa-free travel to the Schengen area for Albanian citizens from late 2010. His government was also marked by controversies including the 2008 Gërdec explosions, in which 26 people were killed at a munitions dismantling site, and the 21 January 2011 protest killings, when four opposition protesters were shot by state forces outside the prime minister's office. After the DP's defeat in the 2013 Albanian parliamentary election, Berisha resigned as party chairman but remained a member of parliament. Berisha returned to the leadership of the Democratic Party after a bitter internal split that followed his 2021 public designation by the United States Department of State for alleged involvement in "significant corruption" during his time as prime minister. In 2022, he said he had also been barred from entering the United Kingdom over alleged links to organised crime and corruption; the Special Immigration Appeals Commission dismissed his appeal against that ban in 2024. Berisha denies wrongdoing and says the allegations and later domestic prosecution are politically motivated. In September 2024, Albanian prosecutors formally charged him with corruption in connection with the privatisation and redevelopment of the former Partizani sports complex; his trial began in July 2025. In the 2025 Albanian parliamentary election, Berisha led the Democratic Party-led Alliance for a Magnificent Albania, which won 50 of the 140 seats and remained in opposition. Berisha emerged as the chairman of the Democratic Party of Albania (DP), the first and largest of the new opposition parties. 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. At the same time, Berisha became a member of a discussion forum for changes in the Albanian Party of Labor while having been enrolled as a member a few years earlier. Berisha has served as chairman of the Democratic Party of Albania since 2022. He has previously held the position of chairman from 1990 to 1992 and 1997 to 2013.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.