Though the unity government under him is being run, so far quite passably, by an (ex-Communist) Socialist, Bashkim Fino, and the southern rebels show little sign of submitting to central authority, Mr Berisha may have taken a new lease of life.
The new coalition's prime minister, Bashkim Fino, who hails from the opposition Socialists, has toyed with the idea of going to Gjirokaster, where he used to be mayor, to ask the rebels to lay down their weapons and back the government of national reconciliation.