KINSHASA Jan 16 (Reuters) - Presidential elections scheduled for next year in Democratic Republic of Congo could be delayed until 2017, a government spokesman told French radio on Friday.

President Joseph Kabila has yet to declare his intentions, but Congo is rife with speculation that he is looking for ways to remain in charge of the vast nation after his second elected five-year term ends in 2016.

Opposition parties claim that a revision to the country's electoral code under consideration in parliament, which would require a national census before the polls, is a ploy to extend Kabila's rule.

"[The election] could take place in 2016 or it could take place in 2017," Lambert Mende said in an interview on Radio France Internationale.

Mende defended the revision of the electoral law, saying a census was necessary to ensure a smooth electoral process.

The reforms cleared a preliminary vote in parliament this week. Opposition leaders have called on people to occupy the parliament building on Monday to block passage of the proposed law. (Reporting by Aaron Ross; Editing by Joe Bavier and Andrew Roche)

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