Slovakia is set to vote in a general election on Friday and Saturday, but the sands in the country's political landscape have been shifting up to the last moment.

The man who dominated Slovak politics for over a decade has seen his fortunes fade.

Vladimir Meciar was prime minister for much of the 1990s. He polled most votes in the 1998 election, but was outflanked by an "anti-Meciar bloc".

This time, he has battled hard to rebuild his image, amid doubts over corruption and democratic credentials.

Things were going well, until a row over the financing of his villa and defections from his party took their toll.

Other parties said they will not serve in a coalition with him, prompting Mr Meciar himself to announce that he would stay in opposition.

Conflicting polls

Smer 16.8%-15.8% HZDS 15.7%-20.5% SDKU 11.4%-9.5% ANO 8.9%-8.3% KDH 8.5%-7.8% SNS 6.2%-4.9% HZD 5%-5.2% KSS 3.2%-5.1%

Many are already predicting the end of an era, but on the hustings, Mr Meciar has often taken the moral high ground, mocking opponents for having no programme other than "anti-Meciarism".

"I do not accept the claim that only the outgoing coalition is acceptable abroad," he told a television debate, answering critics who say his return would put Slovakia's European Union and Nato membership at risk.

He said the West must surely see that the legacy of outgoing Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda was corruption, stagnation and disunity.

Mr Meciar's own Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), by contrast, was a bedrock of stability.

More jobs, more motorways, more flats, tax cuts and a curb on bureaucracy are among his election pledges.

Slovakia's "third way"

In the last polls conducted before the ballot, Mr Meciar's party was either first or second along with political newcomer Smer (Direction).

Fico is the rising star on the Slovak political scene

This is the party analysts now expect to come top.

Headed by populist politician Robert Fico, Smer is a leftist party which makes much of its honest and untainted "new faces".

Critical of both the ruling coalition and opposition, it likes to present itself as the "third way" party.

Mr Fico told TV viewers he had close ties with Germany's Social Democrats and the British Labour Party.

While Smer increased its rating in September to just under 20%, the HZDS saw its lead evaporate from around 27% to barely 20%.

New star

It lost these vital points to another new arrival, formed from within the HZDS itself.

"New star in Slovak political sky", is how the Czech news agency dubbed Ivan Gasparovic.

Against all the odds, Mr Gasparovic managed to set up his own splinter Movement for Democracy, or HZD, almost overnight.

And in August, he surged in the polls past the 5% threshold necessary to enter parliament, a rise which was in inverse proportion to the plummeting of the HZDS.

Some believe a Smer-HZD partnership is on the cards.

Incumbent in disarray

As for the outgoing administration, not much is left of the original line-up, critics say.

In particular, the Party of the Democratic Left has been plagued by splits and has seen its support slump from around 14% in the last election to just 2-3% now.

Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda, who says he is accepted by the West, will try to salvage the remnants of his coalition: two Christian Democratic groups, the KDH and his own SDKU, as well as the Party of the Hungarian Coalition.

But this will probably not be enough. So he could turn to Smer, or another new party ANO, the New Citizens' Alliance headed by TV mogul Pavol Rusko.

ANO, which is liberal or pro-reformist, but also leans to the right, is critical of both the ruling coalition and the opposition.

Mr Dzurinda might prefer ANO, but will probably choose Smer, experts predict.

The State Electoral Commission has registered 26 parties. Only the following stand a chance of making the required 5%.

• The Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS). Centre-right, led by Vladimir Meciar. Traditionally the largest party.

• Direction party (Smer). New leftist party set up and headed by Robert Fico who, with Mr Meciar, tops the polls.

• New Citizens' Alliance (ANO). New reformist or liberal party set up and headed by Pavol Rusko.

• Party of the Hungarian Coalition (SMK). Most stable party in last government, represents ethnic Hungarians, headed by Bela Bugar.

• Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKU). Centre-right, member of last government, led by outgoing Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda.

• Christian Democratic Movement (KDH). Conservative, member of last government, led by Pavol Hrusovsky.

• Movement for Democracy (HZD). Breakaway party from HZDS, led by former parliament speaker Ivan Gasparovic.

• Slovak National Party (SNS). Nationalist party headed by Anna Malikova.

• Communist Party of Slovakia (KSS). One of three now marginalised left-wing parties led by Jozef Sevc.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.