Norway's Nobel Peace Prize Committee replaces Jagland

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Thorbjoern Jagland, former chair of The Norwegian Nobel Committee, arrives at the Nobel institute in Oslo, Tuesday, March 3, 2015.

The Nobel Peace Prize awarding Norwegian Nobel Committee on Tuesday elected a new chairman to replace Thorbjoern Jagland, whose six-year tenure has been lined with controversies.

Jagland will remain a member of the voting panel but was a contentious leader, attracting criticism for his dual role as committee chairman and head of the European Council when the prize was awarded to the European Union in 2012. His leadership also was clouded by the decision to give the prize to Barack Obama in 2009 after he had just been elected president, and the 2010 prize to the jailed dissident Liu Xiabo drew fury from China.

The former labor politician was replaced by the panel's deputy chairman, Kaci Kullmann Five, a former conservative party leader. She denied that Jagland's ousting had anything to do with pressure from China, which froze diplomatic ties to Norway after the 2010 award.

The composition of the committee reflects the power structure in Norway's Parliament which appoints the members. The leadership change follows 2013 parliamentary elections that brought the Conservatives into power after years of Labor Party rule.

Tuesday's panel meeting also reviewed the candidates for this year's prize after nominations closed at the beginning of February. The committee said they numbered 276 — two less than last year's record — with 49 nominations for organizations and 227 for people.

The Norwegian Nobel Institute keeps the names of nominees locked up for 50 years, but lawmakers and members of peace organizations who are qualified to name candidates can reveal their choices independently.

Nominees mentioned include Saudi blogger Raif Bedawi, jailed for 10 years and sentenced to 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam and Flemming Rose, an editor at Danish broadsheet daily Jyllands-Posten, which published cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in 2005-2006.

Former U.S. National Security Agency contractor turned fugitive, Edward Snowden, and Pope Francis have been nominated for the second year in a row.

Other candidates include the often-nominated Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege, a group committed to Japan retaining its pacifist constitution and Egypt's Maggie Gobran, a Coptic Christian who works in the slums of Cairo.