(Quntum Chanif Firdausyi, Dewi Masitoh and Akbar Rahmada , The Winner Of Debate Competition -Asian Parliamentary-  UNAIR Surabaya 2013)

What is Asian Parliamentary System Debate?

Asian Parliamentary system is not quite different from Australasian Debate that mostly been used by senior high schools student. But nevertheless we have to inform you the several general  knowledge that should be understood before the 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 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. Prime Minister
2. Leader of the opposition
3. Deputy Prime Minister
4. Deputy Leader of the Opposition
5. Government Whip
6. Opposition whip
7. Opposition Reply
8. Government Reply
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.

What is POI?

Point of Information is a vital part of any debate and should not be underestimated. Before and after your speech, you should not sit quietly and sleep, but you have to make the adjudicator aware of your presence, ideas and argument in that debate. POIs also can be used as your tool to undermine, clarify, or even destroy your opponent speech.

How to do?

When giving a point of information you are expected to stand up, hold your left hand out (place your right hand on your head, honestly!) and say “On a point of information sir”. Different people use slight variations on this but this is the basic one. Often speed is important to get in first, but that is no guarantee that you will be accepted. So you should make sure that you have enough space to stand up quickly.

How to make a good POI?

Keep your P.O.I. short and to the point. The maximum Time allowed is 15sec but you should try for between 5 and 10 sec. Remember that many speakers like to take a P.O.I. and then use the time to check what they will say next while half listening to the person offering the point. Once they know what the next part of their speech is they work out an answer to your point. If your point is only about 5 sec. in duration it doesn’t give them enough time and is more likely to catch.

Another note:

• You should at least take 1 POI.
• You should have strategy to accept the POI :
  • The time, which is after your rebuttal perhaps, or before your argument.
  • Choose the POI that perhaps understandable for you and give you advantage.
• Try to answer the POI directly by the simplest answer that you can.

• With LO