The election of Sali Berisha (born 1944), the leader of the Democratic Party, as president of the Republic of Albania in April 1992 marked a stage in the country's transition from communism to political democracy. Berisha was involved in a series of scandals which led to his electoral defeat in 1997.

Sali Berisha was born on July 1, 1944, into a poor peasant family from the Tropoja district of northern Albania. After completing his education in local schools, he was admitted to the medical faculty of the University of Tirana, where he received his degree in 1967 "with honors." Following graduation he specialized in cardiology and was subsequently appointed as an assistant professor of medicine at the university and as staff cardiologist at the Tirana General Hospital.

Although Berisha, like many other Albanian intellectuals and professionals, was viewed with suspicion by the regime of the Communist dictator, Enver Hoxha, he was nevertheless admitted to...