After the Velvet Revolution, he worked as the assistor to the director of the Ludus theatre and assistant editor of the M-Report daily.
[5] Flašík also led HZDS campaign in the 1998 Slovak parliamentary election, which the party won but ended up in opposition after failing to find coalition partners.
[6] Already in 1998 while working for HZDS, Flašík started cooperating with young MP of the Party of the Democratic Left Robert Fico.
Initially, Flašík was highly regarded by Fico, who once dubbed him "master campaigner, capable of turning water in Coca Cola".
[7] However, after the law and order-focused campaign failed to win the 2002 Slovak parliamentary election for SMER, the relationship between the two men deteriorated.
By 2004, Fico ceased all formal contacts with Flašík and removed several of his close associates from leading positions in the party.