By Archis Chowdhury
Recently, Time magazine published its 'list of favourites' for the Nobel Peace Prize 2022, which featured the names of Indian fact-checkers Pratik Sinha and Mohammed Zubair - who are the co-founders of fact-checking website Alt News.
While many social media users took to Twitter to congratulate the duo on their nomination, there was also a backlash against Time, with many questioning the credibility of the article. The latter group shared screenshots of the nomination procedure from the official website of Nobel Prize, which mentioned that the names of the nominees are not made public for 50 years.
So on what basis did Time magazine create this list? Are the names mentioned in their article really official Nobel nominees? Let us take a closer look at the Time article, and the nomination and selection procedure for the Nobel Peace Prize to know more.
50 Years Of Non-Disclosure Of Names Of Nominees: Is It True?
It isindeed mentioned on Nobel Prize's official website that names of nominators and of nominees cannot be divulged with the public for a period of 50 years.
Are Zubair And Sinha Candidates For Nobel Peace Price This Year?
The Time article mentions clearly that their 'list of favourites' for the Nobel Peace Prize is based on a survey by Reuters, bookmakers' odds, and a shortlist by Oslo-based private research institution Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).
Reuters, in their article on the survey results, also highlight that 50-year-rule of not divulging names of nominees. However, they also clarify that it is the Norwegian Nobel Committee who has to abide by this rule. Norwegian lawmakers, and other nominators, can choose to provide the names of candidates they are nominating. However, this list of names only feature those before the shortlist by the Nobel Committee.
Sinha and Zubair's names feature in the shortlist by PRIO, which also feature other names from India like Karwan-e-Mohabbat, a nationwide civilian peace campaign, and its founder, activist Harsh Mander. It is to be noted that PRIO's shortlist is done independently from the official shortlist of candidates by the Norwegian Nobel Committee (which is not publicly divulged for 50 years), based on the professional assessment of the PRIO's directors. The PRIO website also mentions that Henrik Urdal, the current director who had included Zubair and Sinha's names in the shortlist, abstains from nominating 'due to his active role in commenting on the prize'.
Therefore, it cannot be confirmed whether their names are in the official shortlist of 343 candidates for this year's Nobel Peace Price - at least for another 50 years - unless they win the Nobel Peace Price this year.
Who Else Is In Time's List Of Favourites?
Other names to feature in this list by Time are Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Belarusian opposition political leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, incarcerated Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption activist Alexey Navalny, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Health Organisation, Tuvalu's Foreign Minister Simon Kofe, TV narrator David Attenborough, Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg, and Myanmar's shadow government opposing the military rule, also known as Myanmar National Unity Government.
Who Can Nominate Candidates For Nobel?
As per the Nobel Foundation, for a nomination to be considered valid, it has to be done by someone who falls within one of the following categories:
- Members of national assemblies and national governments (cabinet members/ministers) of sovereign states as well as current heads of states
- Members of The International Court of Justice in The Hague and The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague
- Members of l'Institut de Droit International
- Members of the international board of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
- University professors, professors emeriti and associate professors of history, social sciences, law, philosophy, theology, and religion; university rectors and university directors (or their equivalents); directors of peace research institutes and foreign policy institutes
- Persons who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
- Members of the main board of directors or its equivalent of organisations that have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
- Current and former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee (proposals by current members of the Committee to be submitted no later than at the first meeting of the Committee after 1 February)
- Former advisers to the Norwegian Nobel Committee
Following the submission of nomination, a shortlist of candidates is prepared by the Norwegian Nobel Committee which is composed of five members appointed by the Norwegian parliament.
This year, the number of candidates is 343, the second highest shortlist - highest being 376 candidates in 2016.
It is the same committee which finally chooses the Nobel Peace Price laureate. Unlike the other prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and the prize in economic sciences, whose award ceremony occurs in Stockholm, Sweden, the Nobel Peace Price is awarded in Oslo.
