By Margarita Antidze and Hasmik Mkrtchyan
YEREVAN (Reuters) - Armenians voted on Tuesday in apresidential election that Prime Minister Serzh Sarksyan, givencredit for swift economic growth and rising living standards,is expected to win.
Opinion polls give Sarksyan, a trusted ally of outgoingPresident Robert Kocharyan, more than 50 percent support in thevote, which investors say will be a test of stability for thetiny Caucasus nation.
"I assess my chances as very good. If in the coming daysnothing extraordinary happens, the election will end in justone round," Sarksyan, 53, told Reuters in an interview onSaturday.
The opposition says the campaign has been unfair and hasvowed to take to the streets if it detects vote-rigging.Previous elections in Armenia have been followed by massopposition protests alleging ballot fraud.
Voters trickled to polls as they opened at 8 a.m. (4 a.m.British time). Polling stations close at 8 p.m. in the countryof 3.2 million people and first results are expected onWednesday.
Armenia, high in the Caucasus mountains, is in a regionemerging as a transit route for oil exports from the CaspianSea to energy-hungry world markets.
The energy flows could be threatened, analysts warn, if anunresolved conflict with neighbouring Azerbaijan flares upagain into fighting. A dispute between Armenia and anotherneighbour, Turkey, complicates Ankara's relations with theWest.
TEST OF STABILITY
Most observers predict that if Sarksyan is elected, hisrule will be broadly a continuation of Kocharyan's 10 years inoffice, which have been marked by economic growth and firmstands toward Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Kocharyan, 53, is barred by the constitution from serving athird consecutive term. He is expected to remain influential,but has refused to disclose what role he will take until hisreplacement is inaugurated.
Polls give Sarksyan a lead over the rest of the field, ledby former speaker of parliament Artur Baghdasaryan and LevonTer-Petrosyan, a former president who was forced to resign in1998 but is now seeking a comeback.
"If there is a second round I would prefer to fight againstLevon Ter-Petrosyan," Sarksyan told Reuters on Saturday.
"It will answer many questions and will bring calm to ourcountry ... if there is a second round and Levon Ter-Petrosyanruns, he will lose overwhelmingly."
But some voters disagreed. Engineer Mesrop Yegizaryan, 48,cast his ballot at public school number 24 for Ter-Petrosyan.
"I'm voting for him because he made a lot of mistakes whenhe used to president. But he's changed a lot since then, andI'd like to support him to give him a chance to rebuild what hehas destroyed," he said.
More than 300 foreign observers from the Organisation forSecurity and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), as well as dozensfrom the Council of Europe and other foreign organisations,will monitor voting.
Final results must be released within seven days of thevote.
(Writing by Margarita Antidze; Editing by Michael Winfrey)
