Pedro Pires
| Pedro Pires | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 3rd President of Cape Verde | |
|
In office 22 March 2001 – 9 September 2011 |
|
| Prime Minister | José Maria Neves |
| Preceded by | António Mascarenhas Monteiro |
| Succeeded by | Jorge Carlos Fonseca |
| Prime Minister of Cape Verde | |
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In office 8 July 1975 – 4 April 1991 |
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| President |
Aristides Pereira António Mascarenhas Monteiro |
| Preceded by | Office created |
| Succeeded by | Carlos Veiga |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Pedro Verona Rodrigues Pires 29 April 1934 Fogo, Overseas Province of Cabo Verde, Portugal |
| Political party | African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde |
| Spouse(s) | Adélcia Barreto |
| Alma mater | University of Lisbon |
Pedro Verona Rodrigues Pires (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpedɾu vɨˈɾonɐ ʁuˈdɾiɡɨʃ ˈpiɾɨʃ]; born 29 April 1934) was the President of Cape Verde from March 2001 to September 2011. Before becoming President, he was Prime Minister from 1975 to 1991.
Pires was born in Fogo, Cape Verde. Later, he studied at Escola Jorge Barbosa in Mindelo somewhere in the 1950s and later abroad at the University of Lisbon in Portugal, at the time imperial capital, he was the father of future leaders for of the struggle for independence during the Portuguese Colonial War.
Three days after the country became independent, he became the first prime minister of the country and the nation at the time was a one-party state. After the ruling African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV) decided to institute multiparty democracy in February 1990, Pires replaced President Aristides Pereira as General Secretary of PAICV in August 1990. The PAICV lost the multiparty parliamentary and presidential elections held in early 1991 and was left in opposition. At a party congress in August 1993, Pires was replaced as General Secretary by Aristides Lima and was instead elected as President of PAICV. As a candidate for the party presidency at PAICV's September 1997 congress, he faced José Maria Neves and prevailed with 68% of the vote. He stepped down as PAICV President in 2000 in preparation for a presidential bid in the next year's election and he was succeeded by Neves. He officially announced his candidacy for the Presidency of Cape Verde on September 5, 2000.
Pires was the PAICV candidate in the February 2001 presidential election, defeating former Prime Minister Carlos Veiga of the Movement for Democracy (MpD) in the second round by just 12 votes. Pires took office on March 22; the MpD boycotted his inauguration, saying that the election was marred by a "non-transparent process". As President, Pires appointed Neves as Prime Minister.
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