Green Alternative – Sustainable Development of Croatia

Green Alternative - Sustainable Development of Croatia
Zelena alternativa - Održivi razvoj Hrvatske
PresidentZorislav Antun Petrović
FounderMirela Holy
Founded29 October 2013 (2013-10-29)[1]
HeadquartersZagreb, Croatia
Membership (2021)41[2]
IdeologyGreen politics
Social progressivism
Pro-Europeanism
Political positionCentre-left
National affiliationGreen–Left Coalition
(2017–2023)
European affiliationEuropean Green Party (associate member)
European Parliament groupGreens–European Free Alliance
Colours  Olive green
Croatian Parliament
0 / 151
European Parliament
0 / 11
Zagreb Assembly[3]
1 / 47
Website
za-orah.hr

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.

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
 Steady — Extra-parliamentary
2016 14,788 0.78%
0 / 151
 Steady No Selling Extra-parliamentary
2020 116,480 6.99%
0 / 151
 Steady Green–Left Extra-parliamentary

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
 Decrease 1 –
2024 Zorislav Antun Petrović None 1,636 0.22 (#15)
0 / 12
 Steady 0

References

  1. ^ "Aktivnosti stranke do kraja godine" (in Croatian).
  2. ^ "Izvješće o obavljenoj financijskoj reviziji - Zelena alternativa - održivi razvoj Hrvatske za 2021" (PDF). State Audit Office (in Croatian). 28 November 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Politicke stranke u gradskoj skupstini-Skupstina grada zagreba;". skupstina.zagreb.hr.
  4. ^ Nordsieck, Wolfram (2015). "Croatia". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 19 October 2015.
  5. ^ "Osnivačica ORaH-a Mirela Holy napustila stranku". index.hr. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  6. ^ "Davor Škrlec napušta ORaH". index.hr. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  7. ^ "Hrvatska je dobila Zelenu alternativu - ORaH" [Croatia got the Green Alternative - ORaH]. Zelena alternativa - Održivi razvoj Hrvatske ORaH (in Croatian). 16 November 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2021.