YEREVAN. - Newcomer, small and unknown forces always challenge stronger and more renowned ones in order to draw public attention.

This way, a small football squad can challenge Barcelona, then the world will start speaking and writing about it, Deputy Chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) Armen Ashotyan said at a briefing at the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) Sunday, referring to the fact that most of the parties and blocs taking part in the elections consider the Republican Party as their key rival.

Ashotyan also added that during the election campaign, information war seemed to be waged against the RPA. However, according to him, it is unknown whose hands the anti-PR directed against them played into, and who gave votes to whom as a result of this anti-PR.

“Politics is not a linear but special phenomenon, and in the space it is difficult to understand who gives votes to whom as a result of the anti-PR. The results of the elections will show all this. I think they will provide lots of interesting materials for candidate and doctoral dissertations of political scientists,” Ahsotyan said.

Armenia held a parliamentary election Sunday for the first time since the new Constitution was approved through a referendum in December 2015. The new National Assembly will have 105 deputies, four of whom—representatives of ethnic minorities.

A total of 2,009 election precincts were open all through the country. This voting will be the only national one in the next five years, as Armenia is transitioning to a parliamentary republic.

Five political parties and four blocs are running for parliament. Political parties have to get 5 percent of votes, whereas the blocs need 7 percent to be elected to the National Assembly of Armenia.