KINGSTON, Jamaica — Today marks the colourful, annual ceremonial opening of the 2020/21 parliamentary year at Gordon House. But the marquee event this time is likely to be the tabling of the 2020/21 annual budget in the afternoon.

Jamaicans are usually fascinated by the ceremony highlighted by the martial music of the Jamaica Military Band, the inspection of the Guard of Honour formed by members of the First Battalion of the Jamaica Regiment, a march past by the Mounted Police, and the march by Government and Opposition MPs and Senators from either end of Duke Street into Gordon House.

After this, the Clerk to the Houses of Parliament meets the Governor General Sir Patrick Allen at the foot of the stairs and accompanies him and Lady Allen to the chamber, where they will be greeted by the Flourish of Trumpets signaling that all shall rise and acknowledge his presence to read the annual Throne Speech.

There is no doubt that there will be throngs of cheering people on either side of the Parliament building, supporting their respective representatives, while seeking to unsettle those representing the other party. But that would only be the prologue to an eventful day which could well signal how close the country is to the next general election.

Critics are expecting the estimates to give some signals — especially in terms of the level of both recurrent (housekeeping) and capital expenditure — as to how soon Prime Minister Andrew Holness will call the next general election, despite the fact that he has more than a year to do so.

However, Holness himself can be blamed for the anxiety, as his recent speeches have suggested that the date could be earlier than anticipated.

Focus will definitely be on capital spending on national security as well as infrastructure, especially in terms of new Zones of Special Operations (ZOZOs) and a new China-financed infrastructural programme, simply called the Greater Infrastructure Development Programme (GIDP). The GIDP will replace the current Major Infrastructure Development Programme

and will set the tone for the “length man programme” public works programme which Holness announced at the most recent Jamaica Labour Party annual conference at the National Arena.

There is also expected to be major improvements in funding the security forces to better equip them to fight crime and violence. Last year some $6 billion was spent on national security, and the trend is expected to continue with the introduction of ZOSOs as well as improvements in technology.

Public sector workers, who have been concerned for years about the relatively low increments, are expected to benefit from a new compensation structure, the implementation of which is being funded by the Inter-American Development Bank under the project Support for Public Sector Transformation.

The Senate will host the first meeting of the new parliament starting at 10:00 am, after which the meeting will be adjourned, and the House of Representatives meet at 2:00 pm primarily for the tabling of the estimates.

Balford Henry