17/12/2019 (Agence Europe) – The European Parliament will vote again by secret ballot on Wednesday 18 December at 12:30 pm to elect the new European Ombudsman. At the end of the first round, none of the five candidates had obtained the necessary majority. The current Ombudsman, Ireland’s Emily O'Reilly, received 240 votes, far ahead of Estonian Julia Laffranque, a judge at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (162 votes), the former Swedish MEP Cecilia Wikström (73), Giuseppe Fortunato, currently Ombudsman of the Italian region of Campania (67) and the former Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Latvia’s Nils Muižnieks (47). An absolute majority of 295 votes out of the 589 votes cast (with 103 abstentions) was required. The candidates had until 8 pm on Tuesday 17 to withdraw from the competition. At the beginning of each new parliamentary term, MEPs elect the European Ombudsman for 5 years. (CG)