Nobel Peace Prize head demoted, first in 114-year history

The committee that awards the Nobel Peace Prize demoted its chairman on Tuesday (3 March 2015), for the first time in the 114-year history of the award after his right-wing opponents won a majority on the prestigious panel.

Thorbjoern Jagland, a former Norwegian prime minister of the Labor Party who has chaired the five-member panel since 2009, will now be a mere member of the committee that has received a near-record 276 nominees for the 2015 prize, Reuters reported on Wednesday (4 March 2015).

Kaci Kullmann Five, a former leader of Norway’s ruling Conservative Party, will take over after right-wing parties gained a new representative, giving them a 3-2 majority to make the unprecedented demotion at the first meeting of 2015.

“The committee chooses a leader every year. This year is a new committee,” Kullmann Five said, declining to give reasons for ousting Jagland.

Right-wing parties, which won a parliamentary election in 2013 to oust a Labour-led government, have long disliked Jagland, who was prime minister from 1996-97, according to Reuters.