On 14 November 1974, Lemos Pires was appointed by the new Portuguese Government (following the Carnation Revolution) as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the overseas province of Portuguese Timor. Posted to what was thought to be one of the more peaceful Portuguese territories, Lemos Pires found himself in the middle of a brewing conflict in Timor, while charged by the government to prepare Timor for independence. One of his first decrees made upon his arrival in Dili was to legalise political parties in preparation for elections to a Constituent Assembly in 1976.