Democratic party leader named new Albanian prime minister

Albanian President Alfred Moisiu Saturday named Democratic Party (DP) leader Sali Berisha as prime minister and asked him to form a government following the victory of his centre-right coalition in the July 3 elections.

Berisha, 60, served as president of Albania from 1992-1997. He now has 10 days to present his government to the parliament, which has been controlled by a centre-right coalition.

His Democratic Party and its right-wing allies won 81 seats in the 140-member parliament, while the Socialists of former prime minister Fatos Nano will have 59 deputies in the assembly.

Nano resigned on Thursday following the release of the officialelection results,Berisha was born on Oct. 15, 1944 in Tropoja in northern Albania. He became chairman of the DP in 1991 and was elected as the president of the country on April 9, 1992.

He stayed in office until 1997 before he was forced to resign after losing a general election to his socialist rivals.

Source: Xinhua