Mali's former prime minister, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, was chosen on Tuesday by one of the West African nation's major political parties as its candidate for next year's presidential election to replace Amadou Toumani Toure.

Unlike many of its neighbours in a region plagued by coups and political instability, Mali turned the page in 1992 and has successfully organised internationally recognised democratic elections and had changes of leadership.

President Toure, in power since 2002, will step down next year after two five-year terms and, despite his popularity, has said he does not plan to change the constitution to prolong his stay in power as some of his peers have done or tried to do.

The ex-army general first ruled Mali for a short transition between March 1991 and June 1992, following an uprising and a coup that ousted the dictatorship of Moussa Traore.

Four parties are expected to lead the field in the 2012 election for the leadership of Africa's third-largest gold producer, which is facing threats from al Qaeda in North Africa and criminal networks operating in the semi-arid Sahel region south of the Sahara.

Keita, prime minister from 1994 to 2000, was selected by the Rassemblement pour le Mali (RPM) as the party's candidate, while a former student leader, Oumar Mariko of the SADI party, said last month he would also be running.

The country's largest political party, Adema-PASJ, with 54 seats in the country's 160-seat national assembly, has chosen Dioncounda Traore, the president of the national assembly, as its candidate.

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