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AYAPURA: The Papua General Elections Commission (KPUD) has endorsed 662 candidates vying for 56 seats at the provincial legislature for the April 9, 2014 general election.

Nearly all serving legislative members, who are members of 12 political parties, have registered for reelection.

'€œThey will vie for 56 seats on the Provincial Legislative Council [DPRD],'€ KPUD head Adam Arisoy announced in Jayapura on Monday.

According to Arisoy, besides endorsing the 662 legislative candidates, the KPUD has also endorsed candidates for city and regency legislative councils across the province.

Of the 29 municipalities and regencies in Papua, legislative candidates from 25 regions are being processed at the Papua KPUD because the regions do not have KPUD members.

Around 2.9 million eligible voters registered with the Papua KPUD are eligible to vote in the legislative election, while according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Papua'€™s population stood at 3,144,381 people as of the middle of 2012.

An additional 11 seats will be up for grabs at the Papua legislature for the 2014 legislative election compared to 45 seats in the 2008 general election. The additional seats, said Arisoy, were due to the increase in population.

The number of electoral districts in Papua will also be raised from six to seven due to the increase in population.