YEREVAN: The leading challenger to Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian refused Tuesday to recognise the incumbent leader's victory in presidential elections seen as a crucial democratic test for the ex-Soviet state.

Former foreign minister Raffi Hovannisian, who came second in Monday's poll, said the "vote was not fair and the (official) results do not reflect people's will."

Speaking to hundreds of supporters at a rally in Yerevan's central Liberty square, Hovannisian insisted that he was the true winner.

"Will not let the authorities to steal the people's victory," he said, adding that he might seek the overturning of the official results in the Constitutional Court.

Sarkisian won Monday's poll with 58.64 percent of the votes against Hovannisian's 36.75 percent of votes, the central election commission said after counting results from all the precincts.

Observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly said the election was an improvement on past polls but lacked real competition after two leading candidates pulled out late last year.