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Mauritania set Wednesday the first round of elections to 22 June to succeed President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who leaves office after his second and last term.
If there is no immediate winner, a second vote will be held on July 6, under a presidential decree consulted by AFP.
Candidates have until May 8 to present their candidacy for the post of next president of the conservative desert state of West Africa.
Abdel Aziz, a 62-year-old former general, was a major figure in the success of the 2005 coup d'etat, and in 2008 he led another coup that forced the then president, Sidi Ould Cheikh Abadallahi.
Elections were held in 2009, won by Abdel Aziz. He was re-elected in the 2014 elections and won the first round.
Several major figures have already declared their intention to run.
Among them, the former Defense Minister Mohamed Ould Cheikh Mohamed Ahmed, close badociate of the current president.
Others are the former president of the transitional government 2005-2007, Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar; Biram Ould Dah Ould Abeid, anti-slavery activist; and Mohamed Ould Moloud, a long-time opposition member.
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