Mechanics of the Asian Paliamentary Debate Format

MECHANICS OF THE ASIAN PALIAMENTARY DEBATE FORMAT, UB DAYS 2011 1. Speeches should be SEVEN minutes in duration. In general each speaker should speak for at least 6:45 and generally no more than 7:20. Speakers exceeding this shall be penalised. 2. The debate shall use the English language. 3. A bell will be rung once to signal the start of the speech and it will be rung at regular interval upon the expiration of the seven (7) minutes. 4. The head of the team of adjudicator shall be addressed properly as Mr Speaker/Madame Speaker. The speaker must also acknowledge the adjudicators and other members of the house. (e.g. "Mr Speaker, Madame Secretary, Adjudicators, Ladies and Gentlemen........................). 5. Points of Information or P.O.I. may only be offered after the expiration of one minute and may not be given after the expiration of six minutes. Points of information may only be given to opposing speakers and should generally be not more than 15 seconds in duration. The chairman may request a speaker to end a point of information at his/her discretion. Acceptance of points of information is at discretion of the competitor holding the floor. 7. Points of order concerning the procedure of the debate must be addressed to the chair. These can be brought at any time and take priority over all other speeches. 8. Speakers must observe parliamentary language i.e. bad language is not permitted. 9. The use of Props is not permitted in a debate. 10. No amendment to the motion is permitted. You must debate the motion as presented and interpret it as best as you can. You cannot define a motion in a Place/Time Specific sense (i.e. you cannot set the debate in Dublin 1916 and therefore attempt to limit the scope of the debate and information which the other teams can use) 11. The "house", which will often be referred to, is basically the chairperson, competitors, audience, etc. 12. The speakers are evenly divided on both sides of the motion. Speakers for the motion are the "Proposition" or "Government", speakers against are the "Opposition". The name of the speakers as as follows: Government: Prime Minister (1st Speaker); Deputy Prime Minister (2nd Speaker) and the Government Whip (3rd Speaker). Opposition: Leader of the Opposition (1st Speaker); Deputy Leader of the Opposition (2nd Speaker) and the Opposition Whip (3rd Speaker). 13. The opening Government speaker (sometimes called "Prime Minister") has to define or interpret the motion. If this definition is unreasonable or irrelevant then the opening opposition speaker may challenge the definition. Definitions must also be fair and debatable. "Truistic" or Self-Proving arguments are not accepted. (e.g. The sea is full of water is pretty hard to reasonably argue against). 14. The last speaker on each side is expected to sum up his/her side's argument and rebut or refute the arguments of the other side. Generally this speaker will not add a great deal of new information to the debate. 15. Rebuttal is vital in any competitive speech. Any argument left unchallenged is allowed to stand. The later you come in a debate the more rebuttals you must use. Rebuttal basically involves ripping the opposing side's argument apart and exposing its weak points.

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Supplementary notes on ASIAN PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE Teams: There two opposing teams in an Asians format of debate: 1. Government side- proposes and defends the motion; 2. Opposition side- refute and negates the motion. Each side is composed of three members. The Members of the government side are the following: 1. Prime minister (PM)- opens the debate, defines the motion and advances arguments; 2. Deputy prime Minister (DPM)- refute at first instance the case of the opposition, re-establish the government's claim, and advances arguments; 3. Government whip (GW)- makes an issue-based rebuttal of the opposition's case and summarizes the case of the government. The Members of the Opposition side are the following: 1. Leader of the Opposition(LO)- responds directly to the case of the government by giving a direct clash, and advances arguments. May challenge the motion if the definition is challengeable; 2. Deputy Leader of the Opposition(DPL)- refutes the case of the DPM, reestablishes the case of the opposition, and advances an argument; 3. Opposition Whip (OW)- makes an issues-based rebuttal of the government's and summarizes the case of the opposition. Time of Speeches: Each speaker is allocated seven minutes to deliver their constructive speeches. One speaker from each side (For the Government: PM/DPM, for Opposition: LO/DLO) is given four minutes to deliver a reply speech. The speakers will be speaking in the following order: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Prime Minister Leader of the opposition Deputy Prime Minister Deputy Leader of the Opposition Government Whip Opposition whip Opposition Reply Government Reply 2

During the constructive speeches, Point of Information (POI) may be raised by the opposing side after the first minute up to the sixth minute. POI may be refused or accepted by the speaker. During reply speeches, no POI may be raised. Reply Speech: Reply speech is a comparative analysis of the strength and weaknesses of the case of both sides. The aim of the speech is to give a bias judgment as to why should the people support the team's claim. The speech is first delivered by the opposition side and followed by the government side who will close the debate. Matter, Manner, Method: Asian Parliamentary Debate is assessed by an Adjudicator Panel composed of an odd number according to the following criteria: 1. Matter (40)- substance of the debate, the arguments and evidence presented, and the logical reasoning and presentation of said arguments. 2. Manner (40)- the style of delivery, the persuasion skills, and the conduct of the debaters. 3. Method (20)- the response to the dynamics of the debate, and the observance of the rules of debate. A debate seminar as well as the debate schedule for the preliminary rounds will be posted on September 7, 2011. For more inquiries, kindly keep in touch with the UB Debate chairman, sir Roland L. Aparece at the College of Liberal Arts, University of Bohol.

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