Armenians started voting in landmark parliamentary elections on Sunday for the first time since the adoption of constitutional reforms aimed at transforming the country into a parliamentary republic. It is expected to be a close race between the majority-wielding Republican Party of Armenia, backed by President Serzh Sargsyan, and an alliance of businessman and former world champion arm wrestler Gagik Tsarukyan's Prosperous Armenia party. 
The conservative Republican Party has dominated parliamentary elections for more than a decade, and Tsarukyan's more centrist alliance promises new approaches to governance. In 2015, Armenia voted for constitutional reforms that reduced the power of the president and transferred more authority to the prime minister. 
A total of five parties and four electoral blocs are running in Sunday's vote, with 101 parliamentary seats up for grabs under a proportional representation system. A party needs to clear a five-percent threshold to be represented in parliament, while an electoral bloc made up of several parties needs to garner at least seven percent of the vote.  Voting, which ends at 1600 GMT, will be monitored by international observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. 

Source: QNA