１９９９年５月３０日，经过两轮的激烈角逐，东斯洛伐克州科希策市市长、公民和解党主席鲁道夫·舒斯特终于击败了包括梅恰尔在内的另外８名总统候选人，成为斯洛伐克自１９９３年独立以来第一位由全民选出的总统，从而结束了从１９９８年３月起斯洛伐克１５个月没有国家元首 On May 30, 1999, after two rounds of fierce competition, Rudolf Schuster, Mayor of Kozach, East Slovakia, and Chairman of the Civil Socialist Party finally defeated eight other presidential candidates, including Mechaar , Becoming the first President of Slovakia to be elected by the general public since its independence in 1993, thus ending Slovakia’s 15-month absence of Head of State from March 1998