By George Obulutsa

NAIROBI, May 16 (Reuters) - Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete has urged the country's main opposition party to return to talks to break deadlock of more than a year in forming a power-sharing government in semi-autonomous Zanzibar.

Talks between the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM, or Party of the Revolution) and the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) faltered earlier this year, leaving the Zanzibar islands, where politics have often turned violent, in limbo.

Politicians from both parties have blamed each other for scuttling the talks, with the CCM accusing the CUF of speaking prematurely about plans to form a coalition government.

The ruling party says that must be decided by a referendum, which is opposed by the opposition on the grounds that it would be open to vote-rigging. The opposition has accused the ruling party of rigging past elections.

"Everyone has spoken enough. Now is the time to sit down and continue with the talks," Kikwete said in a statement late on Thursday. "CCM want that big issue to be decided by the citizens, and CUF wants politicians to decide on the citizens' behalf. Thus there are differences."

He said the ruling party decided that any coalition agreement must set a time limit so "Zanzibar returns to competitive politics".

Earlier this week, the opposition said police in Zanzibar arrested five people for distributing literature calling for the formation of a federal government on the archipelago.

All five belonged to the CUF and their families told Reuters their houses had been searched during a night raid when the arrests were made.

"The people of Pemba were expressing their genuine concerns and upon which the government could have taken steps to address the same," CUF spokesman Salim Bimani said.

Police had no comment.

Kikwete has described the archipelago as the "Achilles' heel" of the otherwise peaceful country of 39 million people.

Zanzibar residents says the archipelago sees very little of the money it brings into Tanzania's coffers from tourist who visit its tropical beaches.

As part of the 1964 union agreement between Zanzibar and Tanganyika that created modern Tanzania, the islands retain their own president and parliament. (Additional reporting by William Sakala in Zanzibar; Editing by Bryson Hull and Andrew Dobbie) (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/)

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