"We have once again rejected Jaafari's candidacy," Kurdish lawmaker Mahmud Othman said after a meeting between leaders of the Kurdish coalition in parliament and representatives of Jaafari's party.

Iraq's Shiite parliament bloc formed a committee Sunday to decide the fate of Jaafari and end a standoff that has left a yawning power vacuum nearly four months after landmark elections in December.

Jaafari was chosen to head the next government by the Shiite bloc but has since immense pressure from Kurdish, Sunni and secular parliament factions to withdraw his candidacy.

Kurdish and Sunni figures accuse him of failing to stop the wave of sectarian violence that has left hundreds dead since the bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra in February.

Jaafari has refused to step aside although he has indicated he is ready to put the fate of his candidacy before parliament.