Nobel Prize for Ethiopian prime minister renews scrutiny of 'premature' awards
When Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last month for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation and his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea, I knew the celebrations would be short-lived.
The Nobel Committee said in its citation: “He spent his first 100 days as Prime Minister lifting the country’s state of emergency, granting amnesty to thousands of political prisoners, discontinuing media censorship, legalizing outlawed opposition groups, dismissing military and civilian leaders who were suspected of corruption, and significantly increasing the influence of women in Ethiopian political and community life.”
It was only a matter of time before commentators would second-guess the wisdom of the Nobel Committee for playing politics — with national elections just months away — and for “doling out premature praises,” to an untested leader.
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And it was not unexpected that political opponents, in a nation with a history of conflict and ethnic fragmentation, would be emboldened to speak out given the global scrutiny that comes with the award. “Protests in Ethiopia Threaten to Mar Image of Its Nobel-Winning Leader” read the headline in the New York Times. “Ethiopian activist slams ‘authoritarian’ Nobel winner Abiy Ahmed” reported the Financial Times.
I figured as much — because I was in Oslo, Norway, in December, 2011, when Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, then the President of Republic of Liberia, was one of three women awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her “non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.”
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https://thehill.com/opinion/internation ... -premature