“In a statement issued on 2 June, 2004, [Grand Ayatollah Ali al-] Sistani said that he ‘repeatedly affirmed the necessity for the Iraqi government to possess a sovereignty that derives from free and honest elections in which the Iraqi people participate in a general way.’ He went on to complain that, ‘the option of holding [early] elections was rejected, for many well known reasons… Thus, the process has become one of appointment, in order to form a new government, without achieving the legitimacy of having been elected. …Even so, it is to be hoped that this government will establish its worthiness and probity and its unwavering determination to shoulder the immense burdens now facing it.’ ”
– Ali A. Allawi, The Occupation of Iraq, Pages 286-287