2009 Nobel Peace Prize the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize closed just 11 days after Obama took office. There were 205 nominations for the 2009 award, which included Chinese and Afghan civil rights activists and African politicians. Colombian Senator Piedad Córdoba, Afghanistan's Sima Samar, Chinese dissident Hu Jia and Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Morgan Tsvangirai had been speculated to be favorites for the award. The five members of the Nobel Committee are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament to roughly reflect the party makeup of that body. The 2009 Committee comprised two members of the Norwegian Labor Party, one from the left-wing Socialist Left Party, one
2012 Nobel Peace Prize as well as the fact that what had started as an economic union had really had a pacifying effect. While European leaders greeted the decision, the award tended to be criticized by Eurosceptics including the far-right (such as National Front leader Marine Le Pen) and far-left. Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing UKIP and co-chairman of the anti-EU EFD group within the European Parliament, claimed the decision brought the Nobel Peace Prize "into total disrepute" due to its "insulting" assumption that the EU has prevented conflicts. In a poll conducted in Norway by ResponsAnalyse for the newspaper "Aftenposten", 26% of