The GSLP Youth’s inaugural debating competition began last week and continued till yesterday evening. Over 20 participants took part in the competition over the five days.

A statement from the GSLP Youth follows below:

The competition itself was structured in a way so that all teams could participate in preliminary, non-knock-out rounds, last week and on Monday of this week, followed by the points scoring rounds for those teams wishing to progress further.

Debating topics included: a ban on plastics, limiting cars to one per household, a mandatory 50/50 gender split in Parliament, whether Brexit has been beneficial to Gibraltar and the UK, lowering the voting age to 16 years old and much more.

On Wednesday, the semi-finals were held where four teams debated against each other for a spot in the final. Kyle Bautista and Alex Ellul progressed to the final after a close debate with Carlos Espinosa, and they were joined by Alicia Fernandes who also took up her spot in the final after a captivating debate with Christina and Stevie Linares.

The final, judged by Party Chairman Pepe Baldachino, Party Leader Fabian Picardo and Sir Joe Bossano, saw a 45-minute debate on whether a four day working week should be introduced. Alicia succeeded with a two to one split in the judges’ final results and took home the first place prize for the GSLY’s Debating Competition 2022.

GSLP Youth Chairman, Samuel Marrache, said:

“The last week or so has been intense but extremely rewarding. When we announced the competition, we were expecting only a handful of people to register, but to our surprise, over 20 individuals ended up taking part in the competition. Most rewarding for me, was being able to see the participants improve as the week went on. The feedback provided by the judges on each day really helped everyone participating to develop their debating skills, and this culminated in a gripping final. Contrary to the insulting comments I saw on social media when we announced the competition, this last week has shown that young people are eager and capable to debate complicated political topics in a highly effective manner.

We would like to thank everyone who was involved in the competition and we hope to organise another successful competition next year. The future is certainly bright!”.

GSLP Party Leader, Fabian Picardo, said:

“I had the privilege of being able to judge the final of the GSLP Youth’s Debating Competition on Thursday. The quality of the debating was clear for all of those present in the room to see and I congratulate both teams for getting so far in the competition. I stressed in my feedback that this sort of debating should be welcomed and encouraged. The ‘noise’ and personal attacks made by some spiteful accounts on social media is not the sort of debate which constitutes real political debating. This competition, demonstrated to all involved how real political debating should take place and I once again congratulate the GSLY on such a successful initiative.”.