Professor Sali Berisha is the Prime Minister of Albania, and the Chairman of the Democratic Party. A researcher and cardiologist, Professor Berisha switched to politics in the wake of the 1991 students' movement in the country. He is married with two children.

Born in Tropojë on October 15, 1944, Berisha studied medicine at the University of Tirana and graduated in 1967, having specialized in cardiology. He joined the University as Assistant Professor of Medicine and also served as the staff cardiologist at the Tirana General Hospital.

After a distinguished research career in cardiology, he was appointed Professor of Cardiology at the university, and was awarded a UNESCO fellowship for study and training in Paris in 1978. He returned from Paris and became Enver Hoxha's personal physician, as well as the head of the Communist Party organization at Tirana General Hospital. He pursued research in hemodynamics. Berisha was chosen as member of the European Medical Research Committee of WHO in 1986. Dr. Berisha was recognized as Professor of the Tirana University in 1989.

He is married to Liri Rama, and they have two children, a son and a daughter.

The Communist dictator Hoxha had passed away in 1985 and had been succeeded by Ramiz Alia. The decline of communism in Eastern Europe had its impact on Albania as well. Changes were slowly introduced in Albania. Sustained protests culminating in student demonstrations in December 1990 resulted in the first pluralist elections in over fifty years. The communist Party of Labor of Albania was returned to power on March 31, 1991. The main opposition party, the fledgling Democratic Party of Albania, was led by, amongst others, Sali Berisha. The new party had elected Berisha as its chairman at its first national congress in February 1991.

The elected government was short-lived, however. Continued unrest and a general strike by non-communist trade unions resulted in the formation of a coalition government. The Democratic Party withdrew from the coalition in December 1991. Fresh elections in March 1992 brought the party to power, having won 92 of the 140 seats in the Peoples' Assembly, with Berisha as the President.

Berisha held elections in July 1997, in which his party was defeated. He was succeeded by the Socialist Rexhep Meidani. Berisha was re-elected Chairman of the Democratic Party.

The Socialists remained in control of government until July 2005, when a Berisha-led coalition of right center parties won the elections. Berisha was chosen Prime Minister in September 2005. He was re-elected in July 2009.

Berisha introduced liberalization of the economy but the policy brought mixed results. Allegations of corruption and abuse of power were leveled at the administration. Berisha was rebuffed by the country in a referendum in 1994 which proposed greater powers for the President. Meanwhile, Albania joined the Council of Europe in 1995. Despite dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party, Berisha and the party retained power in the May 1996 elections.

1997 saw a fresh crisis in the Albanian economy. Liberalization and inadequate financial oversight had resulted in the proliferation of Ponzi Schemes. The dubious schemes began to collapse in January, taking with them the savings of a significant part of the Albanian population. The ensuing protests and riots, particularly in the south of the country, prompted President Berisha to declare a state of emergency on March 02, 1997. The rioting continued however, leaving thousands dead. Berisha invited the communists to join a coalition government, and the Socialist Party's Bashkim Fino was named Prime Minister. The United Nations sanctioned the intervention by a NATO-led force to restore law and order in the country.