The party of Armenia’s acting prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, has won 53.9% of the vote in snap parliamentary polls called in an effort to defuse a political crisis after a war with Azerbaijan, official results show.

An alliance led by his rival, ex-leader Robert Kocharyan, came second with 21%, according to the results based on ballots from 100% of precincts counted.

The vote has been seen as a two-horse race, with both Pashinyan, 46, and Kocharyan, 66, drawing massive crowds in the run-up to the polls.

Kocharyan’s electoral bloc said it would not recognise Pashinyan’s quick claim to victory, which came when just 30% of precincts had been counted.

“Hundreds of signals from polling stations testifying to organised and planned falsifications serve as a serious reason for lack of trust”, - the bloc said in a statement, adding it would not “recognise” the results until the “violations” were studied.