Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's party on Monday won 53.9 percent of the votes in snap parliamentary elections, far ahead of ex-leader Robert Kocharyan's alliance which got 21 percent, according to the results based on ballots from 100 percent of the precincts. 

Hours earlier, Pashinyan claimed victory based on preliminary results. The elections were called in an effort to defuse a political crisis after a war with Azerbaijan.

Former President Kocharyan's bloc questioned the credibility of the preliminary results, the Sputnik media outlet reported.

Pashinyan himself described the agreement as a disaster, but said he had been compelled to sign it in order to prevent greater human and territorial losses.

There were 319 reports of voting irregularities, the RIA news agency reported, citing the general prosecutor's office. The Central Election Commission said elections were largely in line with legal norms.

The defense ministry rejected allegations that servicemen were being forced to vote, saying conscripts voting in groups was systematically beneficial and that it was continuing to monitor the voting process.

(With input from Reuters)

(Cover: Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan casts his vote at a polling station in Yerevan during the parliamentary elections, June 20, 2021. /CFP)