US President Donald J. Trump has been nominated for the third time for the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize after helping to restore relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
A member of the Norwegian Parliament, Christian Tybring-Gjedde praised Trump for what he describes as “resolving conflicts” around the world.
Along with another Norwegian official, Tybring-Gjedde nominated Trump for the prize in 2018 after a summit with the North Korean’s leader, Kim Jong Un in Singapore.
Japan’s prime minister Shinzō Abe reportedly did the same, but Trump failed to win.
This time, the Norwegian lawmaker said Trump deserves the 2021 peace prize for having “done more trying to create peace between nations than most other Peace Prize nominees.’
Tybring-Gjedde told US-based Fox News that President Trump had met the three conditions needed to win the peace prize.
‘The first one is a fellowship among nations…he has reduced the number of troops in the Middle East and the third criteria is the promotion of peace congresses,’ he said.
On Israel-UAE relations, Tybring-Gjedde, who is a four-term member of Parliament who also serves as chairman of the Norwegian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly believes other Middle Eastern countries will follow in the footsteps of the UAE -turning the Middle East into a region of cooperation and prosperity.
He further defended his choice for Trump over his role in the Kashmir border dispute between India and Pakistan, and the conflict between North and South Korea, as well as dealing with the nuclear capabilities of North Korea.
Tybring-Gjedde also praised Trump for withdrawing large numbers of U.S. troops from the Middle East.
‘Indeed, Trump has broken a 39-year-old streak of American Presidents either starting a war or bringing the United States into an international armed conflict,’ he asserted.
Four U.S. Presidents have so far won the Nobel Peace Prize, which is determined by the five-person Nobel Committee, which is appointed by the Norwegian Parliament.
Barack Obama won in 2009, Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, President Woodrow Wilson in 1920 and President Jimmy Carter in 2002. The 2021 winner will not be announced until October next year.
But critics say -like Trump, Tybring-Gjedde is fiercely against immigration –especially Muslims.
He is a member of the country’s conservative-leaning populist Progress Party.
In 2006, he also nominated Islam-critical filmmaker Ayaan Hirsi Ali for the Nobel Peace Prize. Hirsi Ali did not win the prize.
But Tybring-Gjedde insists that “I’m not a big Trump supporter. The committee should look at the facts and judge him on the facts – not on the way he behaves sometimes.”
Past laureates
The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded 100 times to 134 Nobel Laureates between 1901 and 2019, 107 individuals and 27 organizations.
Last year’s Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed Ali “for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea.”
Fifteen laureates were awarded in 2019, for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.
Their work and discoveries range from how cells adapt to changes in levels of oxygen to our ability to fight global poverty.
The 2020 Nobel Peace Prize has not been awarded yet. It will be announced on Friday 9 October.
President Salva Kiir favorability.
South Sudanese netizens have begun speculating the possibility of nominating President Salva Kiir for the Alfred Nobel prize.
This is for his efforts in brokering peace between the new Sudanese government and more than 9 armed opposition groups.
The landmark peace agreement signed in Juba last week aims at ending almost two decades of conflict and sets the benchmark towards ending 30 years of Islamic rule in Sudan by separating religion from the state.
Analysts argue that though past attempts at peace have failed, what distinguishes this newest accord is that it was brokered with a post-revolution transitional government working towards democratization and full civilian rule.
Last week, a member of the Egyptian Parliament and speaker of the Federation of North African Parliaments, Mostafa Al-Gendi, nominated President Salva Kiir, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and President of Sudan Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan for the Nobel Peace Prize following the signing of the Sudanese peace agreement in Juba.
“The parliaments of North Africa and the African Parliament have welcomed peaceful solutions to all problems and crises within the countries of the continent,” Gendi added in press statements.
On domestic issues, some of Kiir’s supporters argue that the President has for the last 15 years of his presidency made attempts to consolidate peace efforts in South Sudan.
They cited his 2006 “big tent” policy that allowed several armed groups to integrate with the then SPLA, and the countless amnesties he offered to opponents, including their reappointment into senior government positions.
But some critics say the success of the Sudanese peace process is enabled by the political will of the military and civilian government in Sudan to compromise with armed groups.
They also argue that Kiir’s “mismanagement” of issues in South Sudan led to the years of war and political instabilities.