Green Alternative – Sustainable Development of Croatia

Green alternative - Sustainable Development of Croatia (Croatian: Zelena alternativa - Održivi razvoj Hrvatske) or ORaH (Orah meaning "walnut" in Croatian) is a minor green^[4] political party in Croatia.

Green Alternative - Sustainable Development of Croatia Zelena alternativa - Održivi razvoj Hrvatske
Logo until 2020
President	Zorislav Antun Petrović
Founder	Mirela Holy
Founded	29 October 2013 (2013-10-29)[1]
Headquarters	Zagreb, Croatia
Membership (2021)	41[2]
Ideology	Green politics Social progressivism Pro-Europeanism
Political position	Centre-left
National affiliation	Green–Left Coalition (2017–2023)
European affiliation	European Green Party (associate member)
European Parliament group	Greens–European Free Alliance
Colours	Olive green
Croatian Parliament	0 / 151
European Parliament	0 / 11
Zagreb Assembly[3]	1 / 47
Website
za-orah.hr
Politics of Croatia Political parties Elections

History

The party was formed in 2013. Its leader is a former Minister of Environmental Protection and Nature and Social Democratic Party MP Mirela Holy. She won the seat in the Sabor as a member of the Social Democratic Party which she left after some disagreements over party leadership.

In the May 2014, the party came close to 10% of the vote and elected one MEP, Davor Škrlec, who sits with the Greens in the European Parliament. Later that year, the minor green party Green List merged into ORaH.

On 23 July 2015 it was announced that an independent MP Mladen Novak was joining ORaH. He was a former Croatian Labourists – Labour Party member who left the party after it started negotiating to join Kukuriku coalition. Another former labourist MP, Zlatko Tušak, joined the party on 18 September 2015, giving ORaH a third MP ahead of the elections.

In the 2015 Croatian parliamentary election, ORaH fared worse than any opinion poll had predicted, gaining less than 2% of the vote, and no MP. It is the largest party outside of the Croatian Parliament.

In February 2016, Mirela Holy left the party "because of personal and professional reasons", stating that she wanted to have more time for lecturing on Vern Polytechnic, writing books and fashion design.^[5] In April 2016, Davor Škrlec left the party because of his dissatisfaction over how the party is run, and the party's passivity towards the problems of Croatian society.^[6]

At the assembly held on Sunday, November 15 2020, the members of ORaH made a decision to supplement the name of the party, which is now called the Green Alternative - Sustainable Development of Croatia. The desire was in this way to further highlight their green party orientation.^[7]

Election results

Croatian Parliament

Year	Popular vote (coalition)	% of popular vote	Overall seats won	Change	Coalition	Government
2015	38.830	1.74%	0 / 151		—	Extra-parliamentary
2016	14,788	0.78%	0 / 151		No Selling	Extra-parliamentary
2020	116,480	6.99%	0 / 151		Green–Left	Extra-parliamentary

Presidential elections

Election	Candidate	Party	1st round			2nd round			Result
			Rank	# of overall vote	% of overall vote	Rank	# of overall vote	% of overall vote
2014–15	Ivo Josipović	SDP	#1	687,678	38.46	#2	1,082,436	49.26	Lost
2019–20	Zoran Milanović	SDP	#1	562,783	29.55	#1	1,034,170	52.66	Won
2024–25		Independent[a]	#1	797,938	49.09	#1	1,122,859	74.68	Won

European Parliament

Election	List leader	Coalition	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	EP Group
			Coalition		ORaH
2014	Mirela Holy	None	86,806	9.42 (#3)	1 / 11	New	Greens/EFA
2019	Tomislav Tomašević	Green–Left	19,313	1.79 (#12)	0 / 12	1	–
2024	Zorislav Antun Petrović	None	1,636	0.22 (#15)	0 / 12	0

Notes

1. Milanović was elected in the 2019–20 election as the candidate of the SDP. However, under Article 96 of the Constitution of Croatia, sitting presidents are prohibited from holding party memberships for the duration of their term. As a result, he will stand as an independent candidate, with informal SDP affiliation.