How Berisha uses death to rewrite his opponents’ stories

It was predictable that Sali Berisha would praise the late Albanian scholar Sali Repishti. I even warned it would happen. But Berisha’s gesture isn’t driven by remorse for his decades-long hostility toward Dr. Repishti or the shameless campaign he waged against him. Instead, it reflects Berisha’s well-worn habit of praising his opponents after their deaths, as a way to humiliate them posthumously.

This pattern is evident in how he treated key figures within the Democratic Party. A prime example is Azem Hajdari, a founding member of the party. During Hajdari’s eight years of political activity, Berisha made him an outcast within his own party. Hajdari was stripped of immunity, sued, expelled from the National Committee, and accused of collaborating with the former Communist secret service. Yet, after Hajdari was assassinated, Berisha mourned him publicly and has continued to do so ever since.

The same pattern repeated with Gramoz Pashko. Berisha expelled him from the Democratic Party in 1992, barred his return for over a decade, and even resorted to physical violence against him. But when Pashko died in 2006, Berisha hailed him as a great leader of the Democratic Party.

Pjetër Arbnori faced similar treatment. After losing in the 1997 elections, he was sidelined and forgotten by Berisha until his death. Only then did Berisha honor him by naming a hall in the Democratic Party headquarters after him.

The same occurred with Sokol Olldashi. Once a rival in the Democratic Party leadership race, Olldashi faced threats and alienation from Berisha. After Olldashi’s death, Berisha conveniently forgot their enmity—until Lulzim Basha turned against Berisha and expelled him from the party, reigniting Berisha's grudges.

Berisha has extended this posthumous praise even to former allies. In 1997, he used Leka Zogu politically, only to grow frustrated when Zogu aligned with Ilir Meta. After Zogu's death, Berisha praised his legacy and funded monuments in his honor.

Sabri Godo, leader of Albania’s Republican Party, had a similarly strained relationship with Berisha. The two disliked each other intensely. Yet after Godo’s death, Berisha called him a great ally and erected a monument in his memory.

The pinnacle of Berisha’s hypocrisy, however, was his relationship with Kosovo’s former President Ibrahim Rugova. Their cold conflict began in 1996, primarily because Rugova maintained excellent relations with the U.S., while Berisha clashed with Washington. To avoid political isolation, Berisha sought to leverage the Kosovo issue for his benefit. Rugova, refusing to allow Kosovo’s plight to be politicized by Berisha’s camp, resisted these efforts. This enraged Berisha, who reportedly sought to destabilize Rugova’s leadership by aligning with Albin Kurti and attempting to incite student protests in Pristina against Rugova.

In retaliation, Rugova severed all ties with Berisha. He refused to meet him, going so far as to direct KFOR to bar Berisha’s entry into Kosovo during a 2000 visit. Rugova maintained this stance until his death. Yet, on the day Rugova passed, Berisha reverted to his familiar playbook, publicly mourning him as if they had been close allies.

Berisha’s habit of mourning adversaries posthumously is a telling reflection of his warped political persona. It stems from a deep fear of those who resist or ignore him. Unable to defeat them in life, Berisha seeks to rewrite their legacy after death, attempting to erase their defiance and align them with his narrative. This peculiar need to equalize their stature with his own appears to be his way of mitigating the insult of their resistance.

By eulogizing his deceased opponents—who can no longer confront him—and leveraging their successors, who may lack the strength to continue their legacy, Berisha takes his revenge. It’s a calculated act that soothes his ego while distorting the memory of those who stood against him.

Ironically, one of the few benefits of dying before Sali Berisha is escaping this posthumous insult. But even then, precautions are necessary. Sali Repishti foresaw this and left a parting message: “I leave this world troubled by an Albania caught between the old that refuses to die and the new that struggles to be born. I will pray for a brighter renaissance, with the grace of God!"

Unfortunately, even Repishti’s last wish wasn’t enough to prevent Berisha from tarnishing his memory.

The article initially appeared in Albanian titled: "Luksi i të vdekurit pas Sali Berishës"