On 15 March 2018, the Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico submitted his resignation. President Andrej Kiska asked Deputy Prime Minister for Investments and Informatisation Peter Pellegrini, who is a member of the same party as Fico, to form a new government.

This was a result of compromise reached between the leaders of three coalition parties — "Direction — Social Democracy" (SMER SD), Slovak National Party (SNS) and Hungarian minority party (Most-Hid) to quell a gathering political crisis sparked over two weeks ago by the murder of an investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova. Yet, it remains to be seen, whether this step will help ease tension in the society or whether it is a tactical step to distract attention.

During his long term in power, Fico built his regime on the basis of a tight union between oligarchs and politicians. His closest circle included people with questionable reputation, such as businessmen Ladislav Basternak and Marián Kočner accused of tax fraud. Other issues noted by European parliamentarians included political influence on staffing decisions in prosecutor's office and police, low effectiveness of corruption investigations in top echelons of power, politicians' immunity from criminal prosecution, conflict of interest in the judiciary, and absence of financial reports of some companies. This is the heritage that the new Slovak government is getting, yet it remains to be seen, whether it plans to introduce fundamental changes or will stick to exterior upgrades.

Efficiency of work of the new government will be seen through the results it achieves. Society demands that those responsible for the journalist's death are found and brought to justice, as well as that principles and conditions of public administration are changed. The country's stability and further development will depend on how well the new government deals with this task.