"From now on we will act independently in the Iraqi parliament, where we will continue to defend the rights and demands of the Kurdish people according to the constitution," Latif Kader, an official from the Goran Party, told AFP.

Iraq has been without a government since March 7 polls in which the Sunni-dominated Iraqiya bloc of ex-premier Iyad Allawi won 91 seats, followed by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shiite State of Law Alliance with 89.

Despite intense back-door negotiations, neither has been able to muster the 163 seats required for a majority in the 325-member parliament.

Massud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party and Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, which together won 43 seats, had entered into an alliance with Goran and two Kurdish Islamic parties that won six places.

The 57-seat bloc gave the alliance the muscle to decide who would form the next government, but Goran's exit has weakened their position.

The MPs pulled out of the alliance after their proposed reforms for greater democracy in the autonomous Kurdistan region were ignored, Goran said in a statement on Friday.

"Not only did the authorities do nothing in this direction, they decided to take measures to increase their power," the statement said. "Therefore we were obliged to announce our withdrawal."

Goran, whose name which means "Change" in Kurdish, received nearly a quarter of the votes in the July 2009 elections for the Kurdish parliament, running on a campaign to uproot rampant corruption.

earlier related report
Saudi invites Iraqis to Riyadh for talks on forming govt
Riyadh (AFP) Oct 30, 2010 - Saudi King Abdullah invited Iraq's political leaders on Saturday to meet in Riyadh to try to resolve a deadlock over forming a new government, drawing a generally negative reaction in Baghdad.

The king called on Iraqi leaders to meet in Riyadh after the Eid al-Adha holiday "under the umbrella of the Arab League to seek a solution to the problem of forming a new government, which has taken too long."

The invitation did not specify a date, only saying the talks should take place following Eid, which falls on November 16, and after the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca from November 14-18.

"Everyone knows that you are at a crossroads, and you must make all possible efforts to unite yourselves ... to surmount your differences and extinguish the flames of ugly sectarianism," the king said in a statement published by the official SPA news agency.

"We ... assure you of our full readiness to help you and support you in whatever resolution you agree upon in order to restore security and peace to the land of Mesopotamia," he said.

In Baghdad, an MP close to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is seeking to keep his job, scorned the invitation.

"This Saudi initiative is not positive, and that country does not have a role to play because it has not been neutral in recent years; it has always had a negative attitude toward (Maliki) and (his) State of Law" bloc, Sami al-Askari said.

"Had this invitation come from other countries, such as Jordan, Syria or even Turkey, it would have had a better chance of being well received."

An MP for the Iraqiya bloc of former premier Iyad Allawi, who is jockeying to get back his old job, was also less than welcoming.

"Saudi Arabia should have played a role to support Iraq a long time ago," said Alia Nussayef. "The initiative comes too late, now that negotiations are underway in Baghdad."

Mahmoud Othman, an independent Kurdish MP, said Iraqis should sort out their own problems.

"We respect the proposition of the Saudi king, but the negotiations are now taking place between the political groups at the initiative of (Kurdish regional) president Massud Barzani," he said.

"We hope the crisis will be resolved before the feast of Adha, and if we do not find a solution between now and then, we will consider" the Saudi proposal.

Iraq has been without a government since a March 7 election in which Sunni-dominated Iraqiya bloc won 91 seats, followed by Maliki's State of Law with 89.

Despite intense back-room negotiations, neither side has been able to muster the 163 seats required for a majority in Iraq's 325-member parliament.

Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia had backed Allawi against fellow Shiite Maliki, whom they had long seen as too close to regional arch-rival Iran, which is majority Shiite.

But Riyadh and other regional governments have grown concerned at the impasse and the effect it could have on Iraq's overall stability in the wake of the scheduled total withdrawal of US combat troops at the end of next year.

King Abdullah has spoken twice on the telephone with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after a long period in which the two had not communicated directly.

The content of the talks has not been revealed, but analysts speculate that Iraq was one of the subjects covered.

On Saturday, prospects for overcoming the stalemate diminished when a small Iraqi party said it had withdrawn from a Kurdish bloc that could play a key role in deciding the next prime minister.

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