Armenia Holds Presidential Election

Armenians are voting Monday for a new president.
 
Incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan is widely expected to win. His victory would give another five years to the already 13-year rule of his Republican Party in the small Caucasus nation.
 
In a rarity for the former Soviet republics, Armenia is having a genuine multi-party contest. The race, however, has been rocky for the landlocked nation of about 3 million people.
 
Of the eight original candidates, one has dropped out, a second refuses to vote, a third also refuses to vote and is on a hunger strike, a fourth was shot and wounded in an apparent assassination attempt, and a fifth fears arrest after Monday's vote because he knew the suspected shooter.
 
Of the last three candidates, two were charging fraud even before the first ballot was cast.

VOA News / Feb. 19, 2013 08:19 KST