Later, he studied at Liceu Gil Eanes (Old High School) and Escola Jorge Barbosa in Mindelo during the 1950s and later abroad at the University of Lisbon in Portugal at the Faculty of Sciences.

[6] 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.

Days later on 16 and 17 June, he met and talked with the French Minister of Cooperation Brigitte Girardin in Praia for discussions with the Europe Union for obtaining special status, fight against insecurity.

He ran for a second term in the presidential election held on 12 February 2006 and again prevailed over Veiga, this time winning in the first round by a 51%-49% margin.

[9] In May 2008, he said that he favored a cautious, long-term approach to the formation of a United States of Africa, preferring that regional integration precede a continent-wide union.

The prize was awarded in recognition of Pires role in making Cape Verde a "model of democracy, stability and increased prosperity".