Albanian Post: Kurti urged his party colleagues to spread rumors, maintain power through a state of emergency

The Albanian Post published an internal document yesterday from the Self-Determination Movement dating back to 2017, in which, as they claim, party leader Albin Kurti instructs party colleagues on "how to acquire and maintain power."

In this 52-page document, it is stated that around 40 percent of Kosovo citizens are functionally illiterate, and therefore, Self-Determination should focus on spreading rumors.

According to the document, "rumors are a source of (mis)information," and thus, the "power of rumors" should not be underestimated.

"Some of our views in specific environments and times should be spread exactly like rumors," the text reads, as cited by the Albanian Post.

Kurti further explains that "facts are not very important because people's thoughts are more guided by their goals and intentions than facts outside of them."

In the document, he asks members of Self-Determination to be very clear that "when they come to power, they must get their hands dirty, as otherwise, they will lose power," and in this sense, he adds that the "moral purity of the Movement's activists is not the goal but the means."

He highlights in his plan that everyone within the party must "clearly state that every time we assume power, we must have a clear conscience, but we will be in trouble if we don't get our hands dirty."

The document states that the Self-Determination Movement can only come to power within a state of emergency in Kosovo and even maintain it through a state of emergency.

The current prime minister's logic was that Self-Determination had to work towards creating such a situation to come to power, the Albanian Post notes.

"We won't be able to take power without a state of emergency, and maybe even keep it without a state of emergency for a while," Kurti says on page 45 of the document, in the section titled "Victory is Revolutionary."

He also suggests that Self-Determination organizes an "illegal type of operational sector and surprises the political opponent through it."

"A movement that aims for radical change must surprise, which means underestimating some aspect of it by the current regime. There is no surprise without unlawfulness. There is no revolution without surprises," Kurti explains to party members.

He also proposed that members discuss revolution with citizens, but not publicly and not "at the beginning of the conversation, but a little later."

"A person who doesn't want a revolution can go on vacation to the seaside," is one of Kurti's reprimands for those who do not advocate for revolution because "those who don't want a revolution don't want work."

The document suggests that party members occasionally reprimand citizens but "do it with love."

"For example, when they complain about a lack of hope, we should ask them how brave they are," the document states.

The document also proposes that members in different centers of Kosovo learn everything about the regions they come from.

Kurti also asks members to thoroughly "scan" the conditions in their municipalities, with an understanding for everyone "from high school teachers to 11th and 12th graders, to waiters, petrol station attendants," and everyone else in every other sector.

The Albanian Post also writes that this document, which was proposed as a political organization plan at the time, caused the first divisions within Self-Determination, noting that part of the party's presidency opposed it, including the current president of the parliament, Glauk Konjufca.

Despite the opposition, thanks to his power within the party, Kurti "pushed through" his plan and hoped that dissatisfied members would leave the party.