André Pestana

André Pestana da Silva (born 10 January 1977, Coimbra) is a teacher, who has been the national leader of the Union of All Education Professionals (S.T.O.P.) since September 2022.^[1] He was a candidate in the 2026 Portuguese presidential election.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Pestana was a member of the Portuguese Communist Youth, the youth of the Portuguese Communist Party, before leaving it citing the lack of democracy in the communist regimes.^[7] He later joined the Left Bloc, which he left after it split into the Socialist Alternative Movement (MAS), having been one of its founders.

He left MAS in 2023 due to his criticism of Renata Cambra, then leader of the party.^[8][9]

He ran for President in 2026, getting just 0.2% of the votes.