Armenian President Armen Sarkissian appointed Nikol Pashinyan for a second spell as prime minister on Monday following a June parliamentary election that was won by Pashinyan's party, Interfax news agency reported. 

Pashinyan had, as prime minister, called an early election to try to end a political crisis that began when ethnic Armenian forces ceded territory to Azerbaijan in and around the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh region in six weeks of fighting last year. 

Pashinyan's opponents blamed him for the military defeat and he faced large street protests, but his Civil Contract party won more than 50 percent of votes in the election. 

Pashinyan, 46, has 15 days to form a government. 

(With input from Reuters)