NOBEL COMMITTEE – TRUMP’S PUSH FOR PEACE PRIZE WON’T SWAY US

“Of course, we do notice that there is a lot of media attention towards particular candidates,” the secretary of the committee, Kristian Berg Harpviken, told AFP in an interview in Oslo.

“But that really has no impact on the discussions that are going on in the committee.”

“The committee considers each individual nominee on his or her own merits,” he said.

This year’s laureate will be announced on October 10.

Trump has backed up his claim that he deserves the prize by pointing out that several foreign leaders, from Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu to Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev, have either nominated him or backed his nomination.

However, they would have to have been extremely quick, or prescient, for this year’s prize given that nominations had to be submitted by January 31, just 11 days after Trump took office.

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“To be nominated is not necessarily a great achievement. The great achievement is to become a laureate,” Berg Harpviken said.

“You know, the list of individuals who can nominate is quite long.”

Those eligible include members of parliament and cabinet ministers from every country in the world, former laureates and some university professors. Thousands or even tens of thousands of people are therefore able to put a name forward.

This year the committee will pick the winner from a longlist of 338 individuals and organisations. The list is kept secret for 50 years.

The most worthy candidates make it onto a shortlist, with each name then evaluated by an expert.

“When the committee discusses, it’s that knowledge base that frames the discussion. It’s not whatever media report has received the most attention in the last 24 hours,” said Berg Harpviken, who guides the committee but doesn’t vote.