Should we host Meles Zenawi’s body in a museum?

 (Washington DC) - Hailemariam Desalegn, deputy prime Minister and minister of foreign affairs said a research center named for PM Meles will be built in the capital Addis Ababa and the premier’s body will be housed in it.

Hailemariam Desalegn, who will lead Ethiopia until national elections in 2015, sat right behind the coffin, and welcomed the many African leaders and foreign dignitaries who are attending.

“The late prime minister was working not only for the renaissance of Ethiopia, but also for the renaissance for all of Africa,” Hailemariam said in a speech after prayers. “All his initiatives will keep going forward, all the transformation plans will progress,” Hailemariam promised.

But according to analysts much depends on Zenawi’s successor, Hailemariam Desalegn. There are already growing concerns that the strongman’s death could embolden forces hostile to the EPRDF, both internally and externally.

Right groups such as Amnesty International repeatedly denounced EPRDF’s attacks on opposition parties, independent media, and civil society organizations by Addis Ababa.

“The government has shown a real fear of protests breaking out,” Amnesty International’s Claire Beston explained to journalists, “and have used various pretexts to crack down on [them]. In the context now of political uncertainty, I think that will increase.”

In this regard, Should we host Meles Zenawi’s body in a museum?