The US ambassador-designate to Ethiopia, Donald Booth, has said that his main priorities would be to push for free and fair elections in Ethiopia, to avoid a repeat of the 2005 post-election violence. The US ambassador-designate made a passionate plea for his confirmation to the position before a US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, PANA reported here quoting a media advisory from the US Embassy in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. Ethiopian analysts feared that the absence of a top American diplomat ahead of the 23 May parliamentary elections, means the US would miss a chance to shape the future of elections in Ethiopia. Ethiopia's National Electoral Board says it has registered 22 million eligible voters for the elections.  Full Text