AKIPRESS.COM - Armenia's ruling Republican Party was ahead in key parliamentary elections, the Central Election Commision (CEC) said early on Monday.

The vote was the first since constitutional changes turned the country into a parliamentary system in 2015.

President Serzh Sargsyan's Republican Party was leading with 50.43 percent of the vote, while the opposition coalition behind Gagik Tsarukian - a former arm wrestler and one of the ex-Soviet state's wealthiest men - was trailing with 28.29 percent. The nationalist Dashnaktsutyun were at 6.88 percent, leaving them also set to enter parliament.

"According to the elections' early results, the Republican Party has every chance of forming the new government," the party's spokesman, Eduard Sharmazanov, told reporters.

Opposition politicians complained of a string of voting irregularities in Sunday's election, including violations of ballot secrecy and multiple voting. A local reporter posted a video on Sunday allegedly showing pro-government activists attacking him and a female coworker.

Armenian news site arminfo, citing a radio station where the journalist works, said the incident occurred after the reporter noticed voters entering a party headquarters and leaving with money in their hands.