At a press event in Lisbon prior to attending a conference organized by the Patriotas pela Europa, André Ventura was asked about an opinion piece by Gabriel Mithá Ribeiro accusing him of being a “psychological predator” with narcissistic and authoritarian behaviors.
Ventura declined to comment on these criticisms, stating he was present as a presidential candidate.
“I simply don’t want to feed into this or make extensive comments. I am just sad. I see politics as a service, not a battle for positions. When people express being upset or sad for not obtaining a certain position, it is entirely contrary to my view of politics,” he remarked, emphasizing that “politics cannot be an exercise in seeking positions, whether in a shadow government or elsewhere.”
The president of Chega stressed that “politics should not be a battle for jobs or positions, but rather a fight to perform a service for the public good and service for the people.”
André Ventura did not clarify whether the former deputy was considered for Chega’s shadow government and denied the existence of racism within the party.
Former Chega deputy Gabriel Mithá Ribeiro announced his departure from the party, accusing leader André Ventura of being a “psychological predator” with narcissistic and authoritarian tendencies.
In an opinion piece in the Observador, the former vice-president of Chega stated that his exclusion from the shadow government presented by André Ventura triggered his departure.
“Fulfilling the first duty imposed by the political program ratified in the National Council of Sagres (2021) proved impossible for a narcissistic leader, as it required distancing Chega from his person and refocusing it on a universal and abstract civilizational value,” wrote the individual responsible for Chega’s political program.
Mithá Ribeiro claimed that “the pointer of collective responsibility never moved” at Chega, which, according to members and sympathizers, remained essentially “André’s party.”
The former leader also accused the Chega leader of “destructive autocratic impulse,” calling it “a personality trait that makes him an irresponsible governor.”
This impulse, he added, “fuels depressing personal interdependencies, morally dissolving and socially damaging in the case of governance.”
In the article titled “The 7 Deadly Sins of a Narcissistic Predator,” Mithá Ribeiro warns that “handing power to a politician with such a psychological profile is building a concrete wall against the social use of reason, and heading to a paradise of ignorance.”
A historian and university professor, Mithá Ribeiro was one of the founders of Chega and was close to Ventura in the party’s early years.
On September 22, Chega’s parliamentary group announced that Mithá Ribeiro requested resignation from his parliamentary mandate and would be replaced by Rui Fernandes, without disclosing the reasons for this decision.
The following week, Mithá Ribeiro announced his withdrawal from the candidacy for the presidency of the Pombal Municipal Council.
Gabriel Mithá Ribeiro was elected deputy in the XV, XVI, and XVII legislatures, always representing the Leiria district, and was reappointed as secretary of the parliament table in June following the early legislative elections.
