The party of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky won an absolute majority in parliamentary elections with a record share of the vote, according to partial results and media projections Monday.

Zelensky's Servant of the People party – named after the sitcom he starred in before his shock presidential win in April – took around 42 percent of the vote, well ahead of its nearest rival on just over 12 percent, with 50 percent of votes counted, the results showed.

Media projections showed this puts the party on track to pick up more than half the parliament's 450 seats, the best showing by any party in Ukraine's post-Soviet history. 

Servant of the People could win 121-122 seats in the party list voting and 125-127 seats in the constituencies following Sunday's parliamentary election, Oleksandr Korniyenko, a senior party official, said on Monday.

The country's Central Election Commission said members of Servant of the People party are leading in 99 single-mandate constituencies.

Opposition Platform-For Life came second with 11.5 percent, according to combined figures from three pollsters.

Coalition with a rock star? 

Without a majority, he will need to form a coalition and has indicated a preference for another new political force, the Golos (Voice) party of rock star Svyatoslav Vakarchuk.

It took 6.3 percent, crossing the five percent threshold needed to enter parliament.

The result is the culmination of a stunning turnaround in Ukrainian politics and will bring a host of newcomers into parliament and government.

Speaking shortly after the exit polls were released, the 41-year-old Zelensky said his primary goals were to bring peace and tackle corruption.

"Our main priorities – and I repeat this for every Ukrainian – are to end the war, return our prisoners and defeat the corruption that persists in Ukraine," he said at his party's election headquarters.

Zelensky's victory in April was seen as a rejection of the country's traditional elite for failing to end the separatist conflict, revive the economy or tackle widespread graft.

Former President Petro Poroshenko's European Solidarity party and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's party Batkivshyna ("Fatherland") also entered parliament with 8.9 and 7.6 percent of the vote, according to the exit polls.

Faced with a hostile parliament after his win, Zelensky quickly called snap elections and vowed to bring in a new generation of politicians to lead the country.

Zelensky said after the exit polls that he would "be pleased to invite Mr. Vakarchuk for talks" on forming a coalition.

He also said he was looking for a "new face and a specialist in the economy" to become the next prime minister.

Vakarchuk, the 44-year-old lead vocalist of one of Ukraine's most successful rock bands, Okean Elzy, only founded his party in May.

He said after the exit polls that it was "too early" to talk about the specifics of a coalition but that he was "ready for talks with other political forces that have the same principles as us."

Both Zelensky and Vakarchuk packed their parties with young people new to politics and banned candidates who had previously served as lawmakers.

'Young intelligent team' 

Many voters seemed excited by the prospect of new political forces coming to power.

Kateryna, a 31-year-old Kiev woman on maternity leave, said she cast her vote for Vakarchuk because she "believes in his young intelligent team."

"It is the first time I am voting for someone because I like them, not because I have to choose the lesser evil," she said.

More than 20 parties fielded candidates.

The strong score for the Opposition Platform-For Life was expected as opinion polls had consistently shown the party in second place.

Only 424 of the 450 seats in Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, will be filled this election, as the rest represent Crimea, incorporated into Russia following a local referendum in 2014 . 

Of the seats being filled, 225 members are elected from nationwide party lists, while the rest are directly elected in their districts.

(Cover: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. /VCG Photo)

(With input from agencies)