Yerevan, Jun 21 (IANS): Early results from the Armenian Central Election Commission on Monday revealed that the ruling Civil Contract party led by caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan took the lead with 53.92 per cent of the votes cast in the parliamentary polls.

The Civil Contract party was followed by the Armenia Alliance party led by former President Robert Kocharyan, which got 21.04 per cent of the votes, according to the Commission.

There were 2008 polling stations set nationwide for the election held on Sunday, with a voter turnout rate of 49.4 per cent, Xinhua news agency reported.

Armenians went to the polls to pick a new parliament for the next five years, with 25 political parties and blocs running for the seats of the National Assembly.

Any party that garners more than 5 per cent of the ballots, or party blocs securing 7 per cent, will be allocated seats in proportion to their shares of votes, according to the Commission.

The parliament will have at least 101 members, while the final number of seats will be defined following the election results.

he last parliamentary election was held on December 9, 2018, with a service term of five years.

Sunday's snap election was initially scheduled for March this year as tensions emerged between Prime Minister ashinyan and the country's General Staff Onik Gasparyan.

Earlier this year, Pashinyan submitted several requests to President Armen Sarkissian demanding the dismissal of Gasparyan, while the military leader's deputies and dozens of top military commanders signed a statement in February, demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister and his cabinet.

In April, Pashinyan announced his resignation to pave the way for the snap parliamentary elections, saying that his party would took part in the contest with himself as the candidate for Prime Minister.