Armenians head to the polls on Sunday in a parliamentary election seen as a test of the government's efforts to forge a peace deal after a military defeat by Azerbaijan three years ago.
Polls show Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's ruling Civil Contract party leading, backed by up to 32 percent of voters, with the pro-Russian Strong Armenia party trailing in second place with up to 11 percent.
Pashinyan has moved Armenia closer to the West since coming to power in 2018, and away from traditional patron Russia, which has provoked Moscow's ire in the lead-up to the vote.
GDP per capita has also doubled under Pashinyan, a journalist and opposition activist turned politician.
"I really like how Armenia has been growing right before my eyes," 39-year-old voter Karine Darbinyan said at a rally for Pashinyan in Yerevan's central square on Friday.
Opposition’s criticism
Pashinyan has faced a wave of criticism from the opposition and certain sections of the public, particularly since the war with Azerbaijan in 2023, mostly concerning his peace efforts with Baku.
He has countered by placing his peace effort centre stage in his campaign, above all the agreement he signed at the White House last August with Azerbaijan after an on-and-off war that has raged since the late 1980s.
Armenia's opposition is dominated by pro-Russian groups, including Strong Armenia, formed last year by Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan. He wants to keep Armenia close to Russia, a key supplier of energy and buyer of exports.
At a Strong Armenia rally in Yerevan last week, a woman who gave her name only as Gayane said she supported Karapetyan because he would ensure "that our Armenia remains Armenian".
Polls open at 8 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) and close at 8 p.m.
Some 2.48 million people are registered to vote in the landlocked country of 3 million.
