Armenia leader set to win in test for democracy

Armenians voted Monday in a presidential poll expected to be easily won by incumbent President Serzh Sarkisian against weak rivals but which is seen as a crucial democratic test for the ex-Soviet state. The authorities are hoping for a peaceful process that will improve the country's chances of European integration after the vote that brought Sarkisian to power in 2008 ended in clashes in which 10 people died. Monday's vote is also shadowed by last month's assassination attempt against presidential candidate Paruyr Hayrikyan which has yet to be fully explained and at one point risked derailing the holding of the ballot. "I voted today for Armenia's future -- for the well-being of our citizens and families," Sarkisian said after voting in a central polling station in the capital Yerevan. Sarkisian's top challenger, former foreign minister Raffi Hovannisian, said the election marked "the most crucial day in our country's modern history" and denounced irregularities in voters' lists and voting procedures. The police dismissed his allegations as "obvious fiction." Turnout was 10.92 percent at 0800 GMT, four hours after polls opened, the Central Elections Commission said. Most opinion polls give Sarkisian a strong lead and the fractured opposition forces have failed to find a common challenger to the incumbent leader. The 59-year-old Sarkisian is a veteran of the 1990s war with Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh and derives much of his popularity from a tough can-do militaristic image. A fanatical chess player who heads the Armenian chess federation, his foreign policy seems itself like a canny chess game with tiny Armenia managing to remain friends with NATO, Russia and powerful neighbour Iran. Hovannisian, 54, was born in the United States and used to practise law in Los Angeles before moving to Armenia following its devastating earthquake of December 1988. "I voted for Serzh (Sarkisian). He can lead the army and take important decisions at the right moment," carpenter Vazgen Akobyan, told AFP at a polling station in Yerevan. "I support Raffi Hovannisian. He has a Western mentality, he is intelligent, he promised to fight corruption and create new jobs," said another voter, unemployed Siranush Mnatsmkanyan. All the candidates have been busy making populist promises to fight poverty and unemployment. The World Bank estimates that 36 percent of Armenians live below the poverty line. Economic hardship and unemployment have driven nearly a million Armenians out of the country over the past two decades. But campaigning has also focused on Armenia's long-running disputes with arch-foe neighbours Turkey and Azerbaijan. No final peace deal has been reached with Azerbaijan since the 1990s war over the Armenian-controlled Azerbaijani region of Nagorny Karabakh as the risk of a new conflict remains palpable. The Soviet-era dissident Paruyr Hayrikyan -- the target of the January 31 assassination attempt that nearly delayed the polls -- and ex-premier Hrant Bagratian are the other main figures among six challengers to Sarkisian. One candidates, radio station manager Andreas Gukasyan, has been on hunger strike since January 21 and said he is not going to vote. However he promised to start a "civil disobedience campaign" after the results are announced. Gukasyan has demanded the withdrawal of Sarkisian's candidature, condemning the president's "undemocratic rule". The Gallup International Association shows Sarkisian on course to win 68 percent of the vote against Hovannisian's 24 percent while Bagratian and Hayrikyan have single-digit ratings. International observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe will monitor voting which was scheduled to end at 1600 GMT. The outcome became predictable in December when the highly popular leader of the Prosperous Armenia party -- the super-rich former arm-wrestling champion Gagik Tsarukian -- said he was out of race and Armenia's first post-Soviet president Levon Ter-Petrosian said was too old for the country's top job.