<P> Depending on the country, there are variations in speaking time, speaking order, and the number of speakers . For example, in New Zealand, both the leader of the Opposition and the Prime Minister offer a short summary as the last two speakers . </P> <P> American parliamentary debate is supported by a number of organizations in the United States at the tertiary and secondary levels . </P> <P> The most popular intercollegiate parliamentary debate style is supported by the National Parliamentary Debate Association (NPDA), which was born in western US in 1991 . NPDA circuit consists of a loose confederation of local leagues and a number of invitational tournaments . The NPDA season culminates with two national tournaments--NPDA Nationals and the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence (NPTE). NPDA Nationals (founded in 1994) is open to all and attracts about 200 teams each year . NPTE (founded in 2001) is qualification - only and invites the top 64 teams of the approximately 1000 teams that compete in NPDA / NPTE - sanctioned invitationals throughout the season . Phi Rho Pi Nationals for junior and community colleges have an NPDA - style division, as do Novice Nationals . The chief online forum for the NPDA circuit is Net-Benefits.net, started in 2002 by Jed Link . </P> <P> American Parliamentary Debate Association (APDA), the oldest intercollegiate parliamentary debate league in the US, was founded in 1982 . APDA currently has around 40 member universities, primarily on the east coast . </P>

During the preparation time for a parliamentary debate the the affirmative team needs to