STATEMENT FOR THE PRESS

Natural Law Party announces decision not to field candidates in forthcoming general election in the UK

Party leaders, candidates and members to focus on implementing Natural Law Party programmes in health, education, agriculture, administration, business and industry, architecture, law and order, and defence

London, 12 January 2001:

The Natural Law Party has announced that it will not field candidates in the forthcoming general election or any other elections in the UK, although party leaders and candidates will continue their activities to create Natural Law based administration.

Party leader Dr Geoffrey Clements said: "In the past eight years, since we formed the Natural Law Party, our policies have been very much appreciated by politicians, the public, the media and professionals in all fields, but the system is really stacked against new parties and we don't get the media coverage or the votes. Now, instead of standing in elections, our candidates will focus fully on what they have been doing all along, which is to implement directly the powerful Natural Law programmes that the party promotes to create an ideal society. They will continue to work with leaders in all areas and to reach all sections of the community. The objective remains the same: To resolve problems and promote peace, progress and prosperity for everyone." He added that the Natural Law Party is taking the same approach in all of the 80 countries where it is active.

Good and pure principles

"When we started the Natural Law Party - first in the UK in 1992, and later in countries all over the world - we knew that our principles were good and pure, and really useful for the development of the quality of life and the promotion of peace and happiness," Dr Clements continued. "But having had the experience of several elections, we found that the negativity and inertia of the people is too great to appreciate and vote for policies that are so universally good and beneficial."

He explained that before starting the party, most of the leaders and candidates had gained first hand experience of implementing Natural Law based programmes, as brought out by His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. They had seen the great benefits of these programmes, as verified by hundreds of scientific research studies, in the fields of health, education, administration, agriculture, business and industry, family and social values, energy, transport, environment, defence, law and order, architecture and national planning, international relations, and world peace.

Insufficient purity in national and world consciousness

"With this experience, our candidates decided to enter the political arena and stand for election offering the population a political platform that would enable them to enjoy in one stroke all of these benefits," Dr Clements said. "However, people have not voted for the Natural Law Party in the numbers we feel would be appropriate in relation to the quality of these programmes."

He explained that although Maharishi's organisation has been teaching the Transcendental Meditation programme in the UK for over forty years - a programme that is well proven to relieve stress and promote coherence and positivity in society - not enough individuals are practising the technique to create the level of purity in national consciousness where people can appreciate and vote for the Natural Law Party. "National consciousness must be more pure for purity to rule the country," he said

"Standing for election means relying on the opinions of the people, and we are not going to waste our time on that any more. Instead, we will focus on teaching more and more people to practise Transcendental Meditation and its advanced aspect, Yogic Flying, in order to create more purity in the nation. We will work with the well-wishers of life to implement our programmes in every area of society."

Actualising ideal administration

Dr Clements explained that this will actualise the ideal of administration according to Natural Law, creating the basis for improved health, a clean environment, better education, healthy food, prosperity for all, and a peaceful world. "We will use our time in setting up models of ideal education - Natural Law based education - Vedic education - which unfolds the full potential of the brain and enables every individual to realise his cosmic dignity. Every individual will live life spontaneously in accord with the Constitution of the Universe, which means living in accord with Natural Law from the objective viewpoint of modern science, and in accord with the Will of God from the standpoint of religion."

Expressing deep appreciation for all the efforts of the candidates and members of the Natural Law Party to bring out this precious knowledge over years, Dr Clements said: "We will continue to be a major force for good. We are not moving backwards in any sense; we want to move forward more quickly by proceeding on a parallel highway. We will press ahead with our initiative to create a problem-free nation and a peaceful world."