MEDMUN Society

Workshop 2: Parliamentary Procedure Cheat Sheet

Roll Call: When the chair takes attendance of the delegates.

Chair: "The committee will now come to order. We will begin with a roll call. When your
country is called, please respond with 'present' or 'present and voting.'"

Delegate: (When your country is called) "Present and voting." OR "Present"

- Present: The delegate can abstain from voting.

Setting the Agenda: “Motion to set agenda to…”

Delegate: "Thank you, Chair. The delegate of [Country] motions to set the agenda to
discuss Topic A before Topic B."

Chair: "Thank you, delegate. Are there any other motions on the floor regarding the
agenda?"

● If another delegate raises a motion:

Delegate 2: "Thank you, Chair. The delegate of [Other Country] motions to set the
agenda to discuss Topic B before Topic A."

Chair: "Thank you, delegate. We now have two motions on the floor: the first motion to
discuss Topic A before Topic B, and the second motion to discuss Topic B before Topic
A. We will vote on each motion. The motion that receives the most votes will be
adopted."
Chair: "All those in favor of the motion to set the agenda to discuss Topic A before
Topic B, please raise your placards."

● (Count the votes and announce the result)

Chair: "All those in favor of the motion to set the agenda to discuss Topic B before
Topic A, please raise your placards."

● (Count the votes and announce the result)

Chair: "The motion to set the agenda to discuss [whichever topic received the most
votes] first has been adopted. We will now proceed with the agenda."

Formal Debate (Speaker’s List): The chair will allow delegates to make a long
speech about a topic for a long time.

Delegate: "Thank you, Chair. The delegate of [Country] believes that increased funding
for global health initiatives is essential. We propose a multi-lateral approach to ensure
equitable distribution of resources."

Moderated Caucus: Delegates speak for a certain amount of time about a specified
topic

Delegate: "Thank you, Chair. The delegate of [Country] motions for a 10-minute
moderated caucus with 1-minute speaking time per delegate to discuss [Topic]."

Chair: "That motion is in order. All those in favor, please raise your placards. All those
opposed? The motion passes."

Unmoderated Caucus: Delegates can get out of their seats to work and create
alliances with other delegates.

Delegate: "Thank you, Chair. The delegate of [Country] moves for a 15-minute
unmoderated caucus to draft a resolution on healthcare funding."
Chair: "That motion is in order. All those in favor, please raise your placards. All those
opposed? The motion passes."

Closing Debate

Delegate: "Thank you, Chair. The delegate of [Country] motions to close the debate on
the current topic and proceed to voting."

Chair: "That motion is in order. All those in favor, please raise your placards. All those
opposed? The motion passes."

Points

Name of When It’s Used Example

Point of Whenever the delegate believes that there "There was an error in
Order was an error in the formal procedure. the vote count for the
motion to extend the
caucus."
Right to Requested if any delegate feels he/she has "The delegate of
Reply been personally subjected to a derogatory [Country] made a
comment/insult. derogatory comment
about my country's
policies, which is
insulting and untrue."
Point of When the delegate has a personal issue that "The delegate cannot
Personal needs to be addressed. hear the speaker clearly.
Privilege Could the speaker
please use the
microphone?"
Point of When the delegate doesn’t understand or "Could the delegate of
Information needs clarification about a certain point [Country] clarify what
brought up by another delegate. they mean by
'international funding
contributions'?"
Point of When the delegate has a question about the "Could you please
Inquiry rules of procedure, flow of debate, etc. explain the procedure
for amending a
resolution?"

Motions

Name of Motion When It’s Used

Motion to set the agenda Used in the very beginning of the debate. It
sets the debate to a certain topic to be
“Motion to set the agenda to …” discussed.
Motion to set the speaker’s list After the agenda has been set, it helps start
the debate formally.
“Motion to set the speakers list to
[insert topic] to [insert time]
seconds/minutes””
Motion to move to a moderated caucus After the agenda has been set, it helps start
the debate formally.
“Motion to move to moderated caucus
of … minutes of .... speaker time to
discuss ...
Motion to move to unmoderated Used when delegates wish to change the
caucus debate to unmoderated caucus (see
meaning below)
“Motion to move to unmoderated
caucus about … for … minutes”
Motion to adjourn the meeting Used when the delegates wish to end the
debating session. Usually used at the end of
“Motion to adjourn/recess the meeting the day.
for the purpose of …”
Motion to recess the meeting Used when the delegates wish to have a
break from the debate, usually for lunch
“Motion to recess the meeting for …” break.

Yields: Said when a delegate wants to use up remaining time from the speech for
something else

Yield to the Chair: The chair will automatically absorb the remaining time and the
debate will continue accordingly.

● Delegate: "Thank you, Chair. The delegate of [Country] yields the remainder of
their time to the Chair."

Yield to Another Delegate: The delegate can give the remaining time to another
delegate to help prove/support their point.

● Delegate: "Thank you, Chair. The delegate of [Country] yields the remainder of
their time to the delegate of [Other Country]."

Yield to Questions: The delegate can open him/herself to questions from the other
delegates

● Delegate: "Thank you, Chair. The delegate of [Country] yields the remainder of
their time to questions."