Since the 2012 parliamentary elections, party politics has been shaped by the asymmetry between a dominant prime minister and his party, on the one hand, and a divided and weak opposition, on the other. However, the 2014 presidential election suggested that Robert Fico’s support in the country has reached its limit, and Fico changed his previous (i.e. from the years 2006–2010) confrontational style towards the media, the judiciary, nongovernmental organisations and ethnic minorities, opting instead for a more cultivated image as a protector of the national interests, a promoter of European integration and – most importantly – a trustworthy guardian of the poorer strata of society