Oslo: Three of the five members of the
Norwegian Nobel Committee had objections to the Nobel Peace
Prize being awarded to US President Barack Obama, the
Norwegian tabloid Verdens Gang (VG) reported today.
"VG has spoken to a number of sources who confirmed
the impression that a majority of the Nobel committee, at
first, had not decided to give the peace prize to Barack
Obama," the newspaper said.
In a surprise move last Friday, the Nobel committee
attributed the Nobel Peace Prize to Obama less than nine
months after he had taken office.
The committee, appointed by the Norwegian parliament,
honoured Obama for "for his extraordinary efforts to
strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between
peoples."
"The committee was unanimous," its influential
secretary Geir Lundestad told AFP on Friday.
But Inger-Marie Ytterhorn, who represented the
right-wing populist Progress Party on the committee, led the
way in objecting to the choice of Obama because she questioned
his ability to keep his promises, the newspaper said.
It also said the representative of the Conservative
Party, Kaci Kullmann Five, and Aagot Valle, the representative
of the Socialist Left, had objections.
The choice for Obama was however strongly supported by
committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland and Sissel Roenbeck,
both representatives of the Labour Party.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, October 15, 2009, 18:40