Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi expects the country's next government to be Islamist. He also says he won't be disappointed should he lose the top job, following last month's election.

In his first interview since the January 30th vote, Iraq's leading secular politician told Reuters he hoped the winners would include all sectors of Iraqi society. But he said the nature of the next administration would be clear.

Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said, "The Iraqi people, 50 percent of the Iraqi people decided that they want to see an Islamic government in Iraq and we must respect that."

Allawi has been Iraq's interim prime minister since June last year, but he said he would not be upset to lose the post.

His coalition came third in the vote, winning about 14 percent. That's far behind the United Iraqi Alliance and a coalition of Iraq's two main Kurdish parties.

He had been tipped to be a compromise choice for the post if the United Iraqi Alliance couldn't decide on a candidate.

But an Islamist Shi'ite politician is already emerging as the front-runner to replace Allawi. The 58-year-old Ibrahim al-Jaafari is head of the Dawa Party, one of two leading religious parties in the United Iraqi Alliance.

But speaking from his home in the US guarded Green Zone in central Baghdad, al-Jaafari was cautious about claiming the prime minister's post before the election results are even certified.