A narcissist is a person who says he/she must rule his/her country

Apr 01, 2019 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

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If I were to explain narcissism, I would definitely fit into the definition the superiority of a person who thinks he/she is special and therefore has divine right to rule. No other requirement for the definition of narcissism could compete with this kind of superior thinking.
Why would a citizen of a country who had about two decades of power, failed as an achiever, and won’t let go? He/she still contests elections and wants people to vote for him/her. In my opinion that person sees him/herself as special, superior ordained, having a messianic complex with the acceptance that he/she has a divine right to govern his/her country
In Guyana, narcissism is graphically ubiquitous. Some examples are in order. After the analysis, readers can judge for themselves if my approach meets their understanding of narcissism. I found it funny that after being a member of the House for about thirty years and a Cabinet minister for 23 years, and in her sixties, Gail Teixeira competed in 2019 for the presidential slot for her party in the upcoming general elections.
Teixeira eventually pulled out because as soon as she announced her candidacy, the political observer faced the compelling question – who would vote for Teixeira? The factors were not good. She belonged to a government that in 23 years in office didn’t achieve even substantial poverty reduction much less eradication. And democracy didn’t exist.
She was competing against some high class material in the PPP.
But the seminal question was; where was her constituency? She had none because PPP constituencies would have preferred her rivals over her. It is doubtful Teixeira would ever get the response someone like Anil Nandlal or Dr. Vindya Persaud will receive in Berbice and Essequibo.
Next is Bharrat Jagdeo. He had two five-year terms plus an additional two years because President Janet Jagan gave him the two years remaining of her tenure. Not satisfied with a dozen years in power plus three and a half years of being the real power behind the Ramotar presidency, Jagdeo wanted to defy the constituency and remove the two-term restriction put on candidates who held the presidency for two consecutive terms. Was this narcissism at work?
Next there is Moses Nagamootoo. There is a nasty fight taking place currently between Nagamootoo and Khemraj Ramjattan for the AFC nomination for the prime ministerial slot. Nagamootoo, after forty years in politics in which it is impossible to attribute a legacy to him, wants to be the PM for another five years.
Not satisfied with being a pathetic failure, Nagamootoo must think he is special and superior, that he must be the Prime Minister again. The reality facing Nagamootoo that he cannot see may be because of narcissism, is that he has no constituency.
Talking about constituency, we come now to Henry Jeffrey. Jeffrey served the PNC government. He was director of the PNC’s ideology school on the Linden Highway, Kuru Kuru College. Then he was minister for seventeen years in the PPP government.
Jeffrey has no legacy and left no distinguished marks in his Cabinet career. After the no-confidence vote in December last, Jeffrey formed a new party to contest the upcoming poll. Its name is A New United Guyana (ANUG).
Now things are going bizarre in this land. Who or what is Henry Jeffrey? But the one billion dollar question is; where in Guyana is the constituency of Henry Jeffrey? He is African Guyanese and unlike someone like Nigel Hughes, he has no following that I know of among Guyanese Indians. I don’t think the Amerindian folks would contemplate voting for ANUG. Where is his support among the Black population throughout the territory of Guyana?
There are big names in the African communities that have several constituencies. Lincoln Lewis is respected in Linden and among the working class. Dr. David Hinds is seen in iconic ways by Black people. Odinga Lumumba, because of historical connections to football, has a good standing among Black youths and the lumpen elements.
The PNC is replete with popular names that have deep sway in the worlds of the Black middle class, the African proletariat and Black rural peasantry. Really, this has to be an expression and manifestation of narcissism for Jeffrey to form ANUG and inform the Guyanese people that his party plans to hold the balance of power.
In Jeffrey’s mind or in reality? It has to be in the imagination of Jeffrey. It is my inflexible opinion that ANUG will not even pick up votes in the hundreds much less parliamentary seats. Narcissists have their rights but these rights shouldn’t include the right to govern Guyana.

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