When Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed accepts his 2019 Nobel Prize on Tuesday, there is a good possibility he will not field questions from the international press.  The Nobel Committee is scrambling to get Mr. Ahmed to change his mind and spare them a major embarrassment.

Nobel peace prize laureates traditionally hold a news conference a day before the official ceremony, but Abiy has told the Norwegian Nobel committee he does not intend to do so.

The Nobel Committee says the Ethiopian PM is refusing even to field questions from the young students who traditionally are offered that opportunity at an event hosted by Save the Children.

Neither will the 43-year-old leader take questions from reporters after his meeting with the Norwegian prime minister, Erna Solberg.

"The Nobel Institute and the Nobel Committee wishes Abiy Ahmed had said 'yes' to meeting Norwegian and international press," Olav Njølstad, director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute and secretary for the committee that annually awards the Peace Prize, told Norwegian Broadcasting.

Njølstad traveled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital, last week in an attempt to convince Abiy to attend at least one of the four press conferences traditionally scheduled over the three-day ceremony, which begins Monday. He was rebuffed.

"We have been very clear about this and have clarified that there are several reasons we find this highly problematic," Njølstad said.

The prime minister's press secretary, Billene Seyoum, has pushed back against what she said are "erroneous" interpretations of  Mr. Ahmed's decision.

"At a personal level, the humble disposition of the Prime Minister rooted in our cultural context is not in alignment with the very public nature of the Nobel award," said Billene. "The Prime Minister is humbled and grateful for the recognition and he has previously stated that 'it is 10% celebration and 90% responsibility for him to work harder for peace' which he is doing each day."

She added that Abiy is one of the most accessible Ethiopian prime ministers to date. Since taking office a year and a half ago, however, he has held less than half a dozen press conferences and granted very few interviews to the international press.

Njølstad also noted that while the Nobel Committee wishes  Mr. Ahmed would answer questions, he feels critics should nonetheless be careful in their response to the Ethiopian leader's refusal to do so.

Other winners have failed to engage with the media. Former US president Barack Obama also declined to speak to reporters when he won the peace prize in 2009.

Abiy Ahmed will still give his acceptance speech as scheduled on Tuesday.

(Source: Washington Post, The Guardian)