Norwegian party faces backlash for nominating Imran Khan for Nobel Peace Prize
Partiet Sentrum, a Norwegian political party, has come under fire for nominating former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding chairman Imran Khan for the Nobel Peace Prize for services related to human rights and democracy — a move that has ignited a wave of criticism against the party in the Scandinavian country.
The Norwegian party announced via social media that they, in collaboration with an unnamed individual possessing nomination rights, had put forward the name of the ousted premier, Anadoulu Agency reported.
"We are pleased to announce on behalf of Partiet Sentrum that in alliance with somebody with the right to nominate, have nominated [Imran] Khan the former prime minister of Pakistan to the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with human rights and democracy in Pakistan," the party said on X.
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature.
The prize aims to recognise and encourage efforts towards peace, international cooperation, and the reduction of conflict.
Every year, the Norwegian Nobel Committee receives hundreds of nominations, after which they select the winner through a lengthy eight-month process.
The nomination period for this year's prize concluded on January 31, and the committee registered 338 candidates for the 2025 Peace Prize, of which 244 are individuals and 94 are organisations.
However, the committee does not disclose the names of the nominators or nominees for the prize.
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The party refrained from disclosing the identity of the intermediary who facilitated the nomination, adding to the growing controversy. However, former PTI leader Shabaz Gill also took to X to announce Khan's Nobel nomination.
"Nobel For Khan! Thank you to the Centre Party, Norway @partiet_sentrum Geir Lippestad for keeping his promise from our Oslo meeting to support former PM [Imran] Khan’s Nobel Peace Prize nomination. Grateful to him, Miss Samina T and party officials for their efforts," Gill wrote on X, along with two videos featuring his meeting with Geir Lippestad, the leader of Partiet Sentrum and the Khan's nomination announcement.
The jailed founder of the PTI lost power following a no-confidence vote in April 2022 and has been incarcerated at Rawalpindi's Adiala jail since September 2023, owing to his legal woes comprising around 100 cases.
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His nomination for the prestigious award has drawn sharp criticism, particularly within Norway, with allegations that Partiet Sentrum is leveraging the potential Peace Prize nomination for political gain.
According to the NRK News website, critics have accused the party of "using a possible Peace Prize nomination to win votes".
"What is happening here is probably that (Geir) Lippestad strongly wants a seat in the Storting. And he wants to secure as many votes as possible in the Norwegian-Pakistani community," said Kristian Berg Harpviken, the director of the Nobel Institute, according to the website.
There has been no official communication by the Oslo-based Nobel Prize Committee regarding the announcement by the Norwegian party.
This is not the first time Khan has been nominated for a Peace Prize. In 2019, Khan was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to promote peace in South Asia.
However, the cricketer-turned-politician had said that he was not worthy of the honour.
Khan, despite being behind bars for quite some time now, has been a subject of interest for foreign lawmakers, those from the United States and the United Kingdom to be precise, who have called for his release on multiple occasions.
International letters regarding Imran Khan
In a letter addressed to Pakistan's civilian and military leadership, US Republican Congressman Joe Wilson called on President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir to release the 71-year-old former prime minister.
In the letter, he asserted that Khan's freedom would strengthen US-Pakistani relations.
A few weeks later, US Congressman August Pfluger joined Wilson and, together, urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to engage with Pakistan to free incarcerated cricketer-turned-politician, calling him a victim of "judicial abuse".
Last month, despite multiple efforts by US lawmakers to free Khan, the US State Department refrained from directly addressing questions regarding his imprisonment.
During a briefing in March, the US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce declined to comment on "the internal frameworks of another country" when pressed on the issue.
A journalist from a Pakistani newspaper had asked Bruce whether US President Donald Trump would take "some sort of action" on Khan being jailed as "the most popular leader with the majority number of seats in parliament".
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