Mário Pires

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Mário Pires (b. 1949?) is a Guinea-Bissau politician who was Prime Minister from 2002 to 2003. He took office as prime minister on 17 November 2002, when he was appointed by President Kumba Ialá after the latter dissolved parliament and called early elections. However, these elections, initially planned to be held within 90 days,^[1] were delayed from February to April, then to July and then to October. After the electoral commission announced in September that it could not finish voter registration in time to meet the planned 12 October date, a military coup took place on 14 September 2003, and Ialá and his government were overthrown. Prior to the coup, Pires had said that the country would fall into another civil war if the opposition won the elections.^[2] He is a member of the Social Renewal Party (PRS).