In the 2004 presidential election Mečiar tried to become Slovak president once again, but he was defeated in the second round by his former long-standing ally Ivan Gašparovič. In 2006 parliamentary election in Slovakia, HZDS had the worst election result until then in its history (8.79%), leading Mečiar to request for an examination of the election results. While HZDS became part of Robert Fico's coalition, Mečiar himself was not named to cabinet. He declined to participate in the 2009 presidential election but also denied considering political retirement.