[6] The coalition won an absolute majority of seats in the 2011 parliamentary election and successfully formed a government led by Zoran Milanović (SDP).

He won 38.46% of the vote in the first round, finishing narrowly ahead of conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) candidate Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović.

For the 2015 parliamentary election, the coalition changed its name into Croatia is Growing (Hrvatska raste) - in reference to the continuous growth of economic indicators such as the GDP, industrial production, exports, and employment rate, which was achieved in the last two years of the mandate of the Milanović's government.

After the resignation of Prime Minister Sanader in 2009, SDP, HNS-LD and the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS) started discussing the possibility of contesting the 2011 parliamentary election more extensively.

[20] On 9 May 2020, the SDP, HSS, HSU, Civic-Liberal Alliance (Glas) and Power – Party of People's and Civic Engagement (SNAGA), launched a joint electoral programme and announced the beginning of their campaign for the 2020 parliamentary election.

[9] In June 2020 the coalition was expanded when the original member parties agreed to terms set out by the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS) and the Alliance of Primorje-Gorski Kotar (PGS) for joining the common electoral lists.

Namely, the IDS and the PGS had asked the Restart Coalition for certain reassurances, including a promise that Istria would be maintained as a separate political unit in any future administrative reform of Croatia's existing system of counties.

Originally dubbed "Coalition for a Better Croatia" (Croatian: Koalicija za bolju Hrvatsku), the SDP thus began their campaign for the 2024 parliamentary election.

This coalition aimed to unite a total of 10 parties: the SDP, HSS, IDS, PGS, the Centre, Focus, the Reformists, the Workers' Front (RF), Glas and People with a First and Last Name ("DO i SIP" or simply IP), and was conceived of as a reaction to the large number of corruption scandals involving ministers of the ruling party, HDZ, over their two mandates in power.

[27] The move was, however, first scrutinized by constitutional experts and political opposition over the following weekend, claiming the candidacy was "unconstitutional",[28][29][30] with acting prime minister, Andrej Plenković, calling it a "mini coup d'etat".

[31] After convening on Monday 18 March 2024, the Constitutional Court delivered a non-unanimous verdict (with 2 justices voting against, and 2 refusing to vote), opining that Milanović's candidacy from the position of president of the Republic was unconstitutional and warning the SDP against promoting him as part of the campaign or as a political candidate for as long as he remains president, lest the elections be postponed or their results rejected.

[34][36] Milanović later announced that he still intends to become the prime minister "legally and courteously", but refused to reveal how, emphasizing that a vote for any party other than the HDZ is "good".

[40][41] A former director of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, Marko Krištof, calculated how many more mandates could a left-liberal alliance consisting of Rivers of Justice, We can!, Focus, and the Workers' Front have gained had they ran in the elections together, on the condition they had received the same number of votes as they did individually: We Can!