Highlights of Parliamentary Debate

Prepared by Sarzah Yeasmin

In Association with

National Debate Federation Bangladesh.

The manners of the parliamentary debate originate from the British parliamentary procedures followed in the House of Commons. Therefore the debate will have two teams participating in it, typically, referred as the Government side and the Opposition.

The two teams participating should have three members each.

Titles given to the members of the Government side:

First Spokesperson- Prime Minister

Second Spokesperson- Minister for the motion prevailing in the House or the Chief Whip

Third Spokesperson- Member of the Parliament

Titles given to the Opposition team members:

First Spokesperson- Opposition Party Leader

Second Spokesperson- Minister against the

motion prevailing in the House or the opponent

Chief Whip

Third Spokesperson- Member of the Parliament

(Opposition)

Sequence for presenting the dialogue

1. Prime Minister

2. Opposition Party Leader

3. Minister ( Government)

4. Minister ( Opposition)

5. Member of The Parliament (Government)

6. Member of the Parliament (Opposition)

7. Opposition Party Leader ( Rebuttal)

8. Prime Minister ( Rebuttal and Ending Speech)

The Debate is divided in 2 parts:

Constructive Rebuttal ( Responsive)

In the rebuttal round the Opposition Leader will get

1.30 minutes. A reminder is given after 1 minute and

on 1.30 minutes the final indication is drawn. The

Prime Minister will also get 1.30 minutes for the

rebuttal.

A Speaker will

conduct the debate

and the

spokespersons

(debaters) of each

team must address

the speaker

(debate moderator/

adjudicator) before

placing his or her

dialogue.

Speaker’s Responsibility and Power

-Analyzing the arguments made and bills proposed in the house

- Declaring the temporary discontinuation of the debate in the

times of necessity

- Conducting and completing the formalities of the debating session

accordingly

-Evaluating the level, basic and appropriateness of the debate.

- Allowing the members of the jury board to make their analysis and decisions.

- Reminding and Restricting the spokesperson if he continues to make his dialogue after the time allotted is over.

The audience and the debaters in the house will have to abide by the decisions of the speaker.

However the speaker cannot interrupt the dialogue of any spokesperson if the dialogue is taking place

within the allotted time for the spokesperson.

Every speaker in the parliament has a set structure

for making their dialogue.

The Prime Minister has to:- Explain the summary and substance of the motion of the debate. And clarify if there is any jargon or

specific terms assisting the motion of the debate ( if there are any such words)

- Present the core of the propositions and interests of the team.

- Explain the procedures or laws in regard to the bill or discussion.

- Include the sentences that the Opposition party might come up with. This will give the speech a

complete dimension.

Opposition Leader’s Speech

- Refute and explain if there is

any illogical dialogue made by

the Prime Minister.

- Specify and signify the areas of

decree and disagreement.

- Promote a counter model to

refute the bill presented by the

government side.

- Summarize the possible logical

grounds of the next

spokesperson’s speech.

Member of Parliament’s Speech ( both parties):- Speak according to the summary provided by the group

leader and detail the main logical grounds of the party.

-Refute some of the dialogues

made by the opposition.

-Provide enough logical

ground for own speech

- Summarize the

statements/decisions made by the

party.

Points to be noted:The debaters can

interrupt in between the

speech made by the debaters of

the opponent team through POINT OF

ORDER, POINT OF PRIVILEGE and

POINT OF INFORMATION

Point of Order:If a debater does not end his

speech within the given time,

then an extra of 15 seconds is

given to him in order to

complete the speech.

The POO can only be raised

-after that 15 seconds speech

-if a debater introduces a new issue within the motion

in the rebuttal round.

- If the information or decision provided by the

member is misinterpreted by other members.

Point of Privilege can de made by a debater when:

-His dialogue or logical grounds are being misquoted by the member

of the opposition.

- A team member attacks another member from the opposite team in

a unruly manner or personally.

Point of Information can be raised when:

- a member wants to know the source of the information being presented by the member of

the opposite team -a member asks for a brief explanation of the

grounds provided by the member of the opposite team.

- A member intends to know an example or practicability of the

strategy presented by the opposite team.

The POO will be raised In The

HouSE with the permission from the Speaker

15 seconds will be allotted to explain the POO raised. If the point is regarded/not regarded ( in both cases) then 15

seconds time would be deducted from the main speech being delivered by the current speaker.

It is the final decision of the Speaker to grant or reject a point.

If the Point is taken- ‘ The Point is well taken.’

If the Point is not taken- ‘ The Point is not taken.’

If the POO can be successfully placed then marks/ numbers will be

added to group coordination.

POI can either be taken or rejected by the opponent team member. But if the point is taken then it cannot be rejected anymore. If no answer or weak answer is given to the POI raised, then the answering team will

be penalized with negative marking.

POI can be raised directed without seeking the permission from the Speaker. The question of the POI

must be completed within 15 seconds since the answering member will have a 15 seconds deduction

from his original speech delivering time.

Only and Only questions can be asked during the POI.

Now you know the whereabouts of Parliamentary Debate, there are few of the things you need to keep in mind:

-Have clarity in your expression. Debating does not mean you have to break out into a loud speaker

-Do not make your tone sound quarrelsome.- Keep your voice in a moderate level so that people can

understand.

- Handle your nerves properly

- Study and study: to increase critical

thinking

- And listen carefully rather than

exploding with words in your mouth.