Gabon\'s Permanent and Autonomous Electoral Commission (CENAP) has published a list of more than 400 candidates to contest in the Dec. 17 parliamentary elections. \"Out of the 500 applications that were received, 472 were validated. These include members of the ruling party as well as those from the opposition,\" the CENAP statement said on Thursday. The number of candidates to run in the upcoming parliamentary elections has reduced in comparison with the previous elections. This is allegedly caused by the increase of the registration fee, which was increased from the previous 630 U.S. dollars to 1,050 dollars.