Strasbourg, 14/01/2003 (Agence Europe) - Greek ombudsman Nikiforos Diamandouros was in the lead after the first round of the ballot for nomination of European Ombudsman, who is to take up his/her functions following the resignation of Jacob Söderman. During the plenary vote of the European Parliament, on 14 January, Mr Diamandouros won 238 votes compared to his main rival, British Conservative Roy Perry, MEP, who won 159. The second round, to be held on Wednesday at midday, should allow voting to be settled. The other candidates all obtained less than 100 votes: 73 for French-speaking Belgian national Pierre-Yves Monette, 35 for Italian national Giuseppe Fortunato, and 16 votes for Flemish Belgian Herman Wuyts.