By Lucy Papachristou
YEREVAN, June 8 (Reuters) - Armenia's ruling Civil Contract party is leading in a parliamentary election with 54.44% of the vote, according to early voting results from Armenia's electoral commission that were broadcast on public TV.
Sunday's vote, Armenia's first general election since a crushing military defeat by Azerbaijan in 2023, was viewed as a test of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's push to deepen ties with the West and secure a peace deal with Azerbaijan after years of conflict and political turbulence.
The preliminary data, from about 16% of Armenia's polling stations, showed the pro-Russian Strong Armenia alliance in second place, with about 22% of the votes. The Armenia Alliance was in third place with 8.8%, and the Prosperous Armenia party was trailing in fourth with roughly 5%.
Turnout in the landlocked country of 3 million was strong at nearly 59% of eligible voters. The Central Election Commission is expected to announce official preliminary voting results on Monday.
Pashinyan's Civil Contract, which has brought Armenia closer to the West since taking power in 2018, squared off against three main pro-Russian opposition parties.
His key rival is Samvel Karapetyan, who founded Strong Armenia last year and campaigned on a pro-business platform and a pledge to maintain Armenia's close ties to Russia.
A strong showing for Pashinyan would give him a mandate to conclude peace negotiations with Azerbaijan, which has been at war with Armenia intermittently since the late 1980s, and to normalise relations with Turkey, a key ally of Azerbaijan.
(Reporting by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
