The Narrative: Opening of Parliament

The Narrative: Opening of Parliament

9 September 2026

Yesterday marked the opening of the new parliamentary year. The government’s budget was presented to Parliament. The Governor read out what the government had written about its plans and intentions. It was all beautifully broadcast by the television station that is itself going through difficult times. Other broadcasters were nowhere to be seen.

I tried to listen, but the unprecedented heat had left my brain overheated. I could follow the individual sentences, but I struggled to grasp how they all fitted together. It seemed to revolve around answering questions along the lines of: What are we going to do, and how are we going to pay for it? There was talk of transition, diversification — energy transition, improving the quality of tourism, exports, ICT, the creative economy, logistics — and much, much more. According to the speech, everything will work out just fine for the island.

This morning, the newspapers were full of it and it was repeated on the radio, but once again my brain could not quite process it. I tried to download the speech from the Governor’s website, but I could not find it yet.

I suspect there is more to it than just the heat. It also has to do with credibility. How credible is all of this? So much has been promised and never delivered. I heard, for example, that the law governing the AOV pension system will be reviewed. Meanwhile, pensioners have already been waiting a very long time for their pensions to be indexed.

Then I hear somewhere that the SER has published something showing that social assistance amounts to only a quarter of the minimum income needed to live on. It is good that this is finally being acknowledged, but this has been the reality for decades.

But I have to move on now. I have a flight to catch for work.

Miguel Goede