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TwitterOn October 9, 2009, The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that the U.S. President Barack Obama will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
President Obama plans to plans to accept the Nobel Peace Prize and said the award is “a call for all nations to confront the challenges of the 21st century.” Additionally, he said he was humbled by the award, and that he feels he doesn’t deserve “to be in the company of so many transformative figures.”
The Nobel Peace Prize places President Obama in the company of Martin Luther King Jr. (in 1964), Mother Teresa (in 1979), Nelson Mandela (in 1993), and three other U.S. Presidents – Theodore Roosevelt (in 1906 while in office), Thomas Woodrow Wilson (in 1919 while in office) and Jimmy Carter (in 2002). This striking decision of the committee has drawn more skepticism than praise in favor of Obama.
Nobel Laureate, former Polish President Lech Walesa, raised a question whether Obama deserved it now. Walesa said, “So soon? Too early. He has no contribution so far. He is still at an early stage. He is only beginning to act.”
The nominations for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize closed just 11 days after Obama took office.
President Obama with less than year in office is declared to be a winner of the Peace Prize.
As per Alfred Nobel’s will, the Peace Prize should be awarded “to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses”.
Earlier this year, President Obama was seen making efforts in lending a hand of friendship to the Muslim countries and has called for a “new beginning” in U.S. relations with the Muslim world in a keynote speech delivered in Egypt.
However, Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas prime minister in the Gaza Strip, told reporters after Friday prayers, “Unless real and deep-rooted change is made in American policy towards recognising the rights of the Palestinian people I would think such a prize would be useless.”
The Nobel committee’s statement included: “Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama’s initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.”
The Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez also questioned whether Obama deserved the Prize and said, “What has Obama done to deserve this prize? The jury explained its decision by his urge for peace without nuclear weapons, but forgot about the presence of his troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and his intention to occupy military bases in Colombia.”
The Nobel Peace Prize includes a medal, a personal diploma, and a large sum of prize money (currently 10 million Swedish crowns).The Prize has been called “the world’s most prestigious prize”. The Prize is awarded at a ceremony in the Oslo City Hall on December 10, the date on which Alfred Nobel died.
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