Explosion at campaign rally prior to parliamentary elections in Yerevan, Armenia

Reuters reported on Friday that most Armenians are hoping for a calm election that will reinforce stability in the tiny country of 3.3 million squeezed between Iran and Turkey.

For the first time in Armenia's post-Soviet history, the election is less of a traditional conflict between the government and opposition than a battle for supremacy between members of the governing coalition.

Instability is a constant threat as Armenia is locked in a dispute with neighboring Azerbaijan over the tiny region of Nagorno-Karabakh, over which they fought a war in the 1990s.