Formation

The Natural Law Party was formed in Great Britain on 15th March 1992, in response to widespread dissatisfaction with the existing political parties and to bring innovative, scientifically proven solutions to the nation's problems. The party fielded candidates for 310 seats in the 1992 general election, receiving 0.4% of the vote in the constituencies it contested.

World-wide Conference Tour

A world tour in June and July 1992 provided a great impetus. A series of international conferences of Natural Law Parties were held in London, Ottawa, Washington, Tokyo, Bangkok, and Melbourne. Since then, inspiration for the Natural Law Party has spread world-wide and it is now active in over 60 countries.

Elections

The Natural Law Party has contested elections in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, USA, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Spain, Croatia, Serbia, Israel, Denmark, Norway, Austria, Sweden, Greece, Belgium, Iceland, Finland, Switzerland, Estonia, Trinidad & Tobago, Mauritius, Jamaica, Philippines, India and other countries.

Natural Law Party candidates have been elected to public office on a regional or local level in the following countries: Croatia, The Netherlands, Italy, Great Britain, Yugoslavia and USA.

In state elections in Victoria, Australia, in October 1992 Natural Law Party candidates polled nearly 4% of the vote, with the highest nearly 10%. In the Australian federal elections in March 1993, the party received about 1% of the vote, with 3% in some constituencies. A similar percentage was received in the elections in New Zealand, November 1993.

The party has been receiving growing support throughout the world. Nation-wide surveys in Canada in 1993 found that 60% of Canadians would like to see the formation of an all-party government, as proposed by the Natural Law Party, and a majority supported the implementation of the party's health care and rehabilitation programmes. In the 1993 and 1997 federal elections in Canada the Natural Law Party received up to 1% of the vote. Everyone in the country was made aware of the party's policy of establishing a group of 7,000 Yogic Flyers to create integrated national consciousness and resolve problems.

In the national elections in Finland in March 1995, the Natural Law Party conducted a vigorous campaign, receiving 0.3% of the vote - about half the votes needed to secure a seat in parliament. In an unofficial youth election held in schools throughout the country, the party polled 2.6%.

In Guadeloupe Natural Law Party candidate Mrs Brigitte Rodes-Seymour was invited by a former Minister to be a member of her multi-party list in Basse-Terre, the capital of Guadeloupe. Mrs Rodes Seymour accepted, in exchange for a commitment that some of the Natural Law Party's key programmes would be financed and implemented. She was duly elected and is now deputy mayor.

European Parliament Elections

The party contested the European Parliament elections in June 1994 in Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Although this was the first time that the Natural Law Party had participated in the European elections, the party fielded over 400 candidates - the largest number of any party contesting the election. The party received 400,000 votes, an average of 0.5% of the vote in the seven countries where it had candidates. In the European Union as a whole this would represent one million people. 400,000 votes was 0.3% of the total votes cast in the 12 member states of the European Union. Under a system of full proportional representation this would have qualified the party for one or possibly two seats in the European Parliament.

US Presidential Elections

In the US presidential elections in November 1992, after collecting 600,000 signatures, the Natural Law Party was on the ballot in 28 states and became only the third party in US history, along with the Republicans and Democrats, both to qualify for national party status and to become eligible for federal matching funds. As presidential candidate it fielded an eminent physicist, Dr John Hagelin, considered by his peers likely to win a Nobel Prize for his work in quantum field theory. In the 1996 presidential elections, Dr Hagelin was on the ballot in 46 states, and an additional 400 candidates ran for Congress and other federal, state and local offices, receiving a total of 2.2 million votes. Many NLP candidates received a very impressive number of votes, up to 31%. The party has lobbied, in some cases successfully, to prevent several state legislatures from passing new bills designed to make it more difficult for new parties to gain ballot access.

Young Natural Law Party

The Young Natural Law Party has been formed in many countries. The first was in Germany, where the party has attracted widespread support among young people. The Young Natural Law Party offers practical programmes for youth to solve the pressing problems of society, including pollution, crime, drug abuse, and poor standards in education.

Campaign to Ban Genetically Engineered Foods

In June 1996 the Natural Law Parties in many countries launched a Campaign to Ban Genetically Engineered Foods, which are being introduced, usually unlabelled, into shops and supermarkets all round the world, despite serious and largely unpublicised health risks. The campaign has helped alert the public, politicians, interest groups, and the media, to the serious health risks involved in these foods. The party has also lobbied MPs, government departments and parliamentarians in each country, as well as international organisations such as the Codex Alimentarius Committee on Food Labelling - an international delegation set up by the United Nations and the World Health Organisation. In Europe, 250,000 signatures have been collected from people demanding a ban on genetically engineered foods. The party has acted as a focus for the efforts of other groups of consumers and environmentalists to bring this issue to the forefront.

In Northern Ireland, a special 70-page Natural Law Party document was prepared in the context of the 1996 Framework Document of the British and Irish governments. The Natural Law Party's response was presented to leaders on both sides of the border, as well as to prominent people in the USA. The Natural Law Party was subsequently invited to take part in the special elections to the Northern Ireland Forum, and did so, but withdrew at the height of the campaign when it became clear that the elections were just a 'playing for time' strategy of the British government. The Natural Law Party's stand brought praise and support from all sections of the political spectrum in Northern Ireland.

International Conventions

International Conventions of leaders of the Natural Law Parties were held in Brussels July 1995 and 1996 and in Bonn July 1997, attended by over 1000 delegates from 60 countries. The 1995 convention concluded that "the United Nations has spent 50 years and vast resources trying to create world peace and has repeatedly failed. The policies of the Natural Law Party, which are based on the complete scientific knowledge of Natural Law, could achieve these necessary goals without delay." The 1996 convention urged all European countries to adopt the policies of the Natural Law Party, which alone could create unity between nations while maintaining and even strengthening their individual sovereignty. In particular, they called for the immediate establishment of a group of 7,000 Yogic Flyers in Europe. The 1997 Convention warned about the expansion of NATO and the EU towards the East and demanded "Vedic Peace Corps" to be established everywhere in Europe to maintain harmony between Eastern and Western Europe.

Summits of Heads of Government

In December 1996, the Natural Law Party sent a delegation to top-level conferences of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) in Vienna and Lisbon. The party filed an official complaint at the OSCE that the USA is violating human rights by its restrictive procedures for ballot and media access, which make the USA one of the most undemocratic countries in the world. The Natural Law Party's challenge to the USA, a country which prides itself on being the principal upholder of democracy world-wide, created a great stir and drew praise from delegates of many nations present. During the OSCE Heads of Government Summit in Lisbon, the Natural Law Parties offered scientifically proven solutions to the problems discussed during the Summit, especially the ethnic conflicts in Eastern Europe.

During the EU Summits of Heads of Government, December 1996 in Dublin and June 1997 in Amsterdam, the party held its own summits of leaders of the Natural Law Party from each EU country. On each occasion, the Natural Law Party leaders discussed the same topics as were being covered by the government leaders and announced its unique and practical solutions at a news conference. The party aims to continue this tradition at each intergovernmental conference of the European Union.

In July 1997, the party held a news conference during the NATO Heads of State Meeting in Madrid. It called on NATO to end its obsolete defence strategies and offered a new means to safeguard world peace which transcended altogether the question of enlargement of NATO that was being discussed at the summit. The key to the Natural Law Party's approach was the establishment of a "prevention wing" in the military of each country, comprising 7,000 military personnel (only about 1-3% of the armed forces of each country) trained in the coherence-creating technology of Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation and Yogic Flying, in order to prevent the birth of an enemy.

The Nordic Council (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden) held a Special Conference on the Environment in February 1998 in Gothenburg, Sweden. The Natural Law Party, participating as an NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation), was able to address the conference participants during two of the sessions. In presenting its environmental policies the Natural Law Party emphasised that a higher level of consciousness throughout society is the only way to ensure that individuals, companies and government officials act ethically and respect the need to maintain an unpolluted environment. The programmes of the Natural Law Party will enable all individuals to act spontaneously in accord with the laws of nature to secure a natural and health-promoting environment. The party also warned about the grave dangers of genetically engineered food as a major threat to human health and the environment.

Parallel to the Second Summit of the Americas attended by 34 Heads of Government in April 1998 in Santiago de Chile, 100 leaders of the Natural Law Party from the 10 largest countries of the region met at a 3-day convention to offer their solutions to the pressing problems of the region. They emphasised that the sovereignty of each individual nation must not be sacrificed for a bigger and stronger economic union. Only through a Natural Law-based approach can the economic situation of South and Central America be improved substantially by maintaining simultaneously the sovereignty and cultural integrity of each nation.