KINSHASA, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Opposition leaders in Democratic Republic of Congo called on the people to occupy parliament on Monday to block a reform of the electoral code that they say is designed to keep President Joseph Kabila in power after his term ends next year.

The law, which cleared a preliminary vote in parliament on Monday despite noisy protests by some deputies, would require the vast and chaotic central African nation to hold a census before a presidential election scheduled for 2016.

In the statement released on Thursday, a grouping of opposition parties said that the census would take at least four years and called it a ploy to extend Kabila's time in power. Kabila is constitutionally ineligible to stand for a third term. (Reporting By Aaron Ross; Editing by Daniel Flynn)

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