Because it is they who decide the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, and on Friday they’ll make a short, public statement that will focus world attention on topics ranging from environmental awareness to advancing peace in Indonesia.

But in the weeks and months building up to the annual announcement, speculation of who could win is rife, with names as diverse as American entertainer Oprah Winfrey to veteran peace negotiators like former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari who helped foment a peace deal with Indonesia’s government and Aceh separatists last year.

Ahtisaari brokered the talks between the two through his Crisis Management Initiative and betting companies are speculating that he could share the prize with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Free Aceh movement.

Others touted as possible winners are Russian human rights activist Sergei Kovalyev and Chechen lawyer Lida Yusupova; British-based charity Oxfam; Chinese dissident Rebiya Kadeer who has fought for the rights of Uighur Muslims in China; and even American anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq.

Although only a dozen women have won the Nobel Peace prize since it was first awarded in 1901, two of those were in the past three years: Iranian human rights activist Shirin Ebadi in 2003 and Kenya environmentalist Wangari Maathai in 2004.

“For the first time in history, there are five political parties represented on the committee,” said Geir Lundestad, the prize committee’s non-voting secretary, encompassing the spectrum of Norway's political scene - from the far left to the far right.

DOUG MELLGREN