It was, in the words of one delegate, a ?mind-blowing? experience.

And, after listening to a panel of young Progressive Labour Party supporters speak on the theme ?Mobilising Future Leaders? on Friday night ? the last working day of the PLP?s annual conference ? many senior party members were left convinced that the future will be in good hands.

While expressing confidence that the PLP is the best party to govern Bermuda, the six-member panel pulled few punches in criticising the party and sent a clear message that they are ready, willing and able to start assuming leadership positions and taking meaningful roles in decision making.

Concern about engaging young people in the political process emerged as a predominant theme of the night?s discussion.

?After the current generation of policy makers leave the scene, who is going to run Bermuda?? asked Curtis Williams, an underwriting analyst. ?Are we going to hand the reins of power over to another party? I sincerely hope not.

?But we have to make this a guarantee. We have to ensure that the Party has a transitional plan in place to continue the PLP government?s policies and ideologies for decades to come.?

He called on the party leadership to be ?willing to hand over some reins? and said, as stakeholders, young people should be involved in decision making.

?Whether it is bi-partisan committees, Government boards, political awareness forums etc, include us,? Mr. Williams said. ?We are intelligent, well spoken, respectful and educated. And we, on the stage, are only the tip of the iceberg.?

Primary school teacher Kenneth Caesar echoed that view and said that young people in the Caribbean are taking up leadership positions.

?Now is the time to have young people serving on Government boards,? he said.

?The average age has to be 40? on Government boards, he said, while people as young as 23 years of age are starting professional careers.

?In the year 2004, Bermuda cannot rise higher than its young people,? Mr. Caesar said. ?Therefore, young people should be given an opportunity and have a say in what?s going on in the country.?

He stressed that young Bermudians needed to embrace their culture and understand their history.

?It?s important for young people to recognise that culture is a key element in society and more importantly for yourself,? he said.

Mr. Williams said he was mostly pleased at Government?s performance over the past six years, but had some disappointments.

He was proud of the fact that Government had proven that it could manage the economy well, and that former Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb had introduced competition in telecommunications and ?granting licences to new radio stations so that we have a fair voice?.

?I am applauding the Party?s achievement, under the shrewd direction of former Premier Jennifer Smith, of the one man, one vote, each vote of equal value, and the redrawing of the constituency boundaries,? he said. ?I am proud of our party?s achievements during the last six years under both leaderships.?

But, he said, his disappointments included lack of judicial reform, the troubled senior secondary school project and the manner in which dissent over former Premier Jennifer Smith?s leadership was handled.

Kamal Worrell, a 24-year-old educator, stressed that finding good leaders who understood the ?peculiar challenges? faced by young people, is essential.

?Having experience in the field of family services and public education, I have been exposed to some of the harsher and perhaps most regrettable consequences of society?s failure to provide good leadership,? he said. ?It is too often the case that so-called leaders, whether they are in the field of politics, religion, law enforcement or what-have-you, have been or appear to have been involved in corruption or some form of unbecoming conduct.

?It is cases such as these which undermine the faith and confidence of our young people in their purported leaders. This, in turn, has the devastating effect of not only widening the gap between such authorities and the youth, but also of diminishing respect for the law.?

Mr. Worrell pointed out that many of society?s ills disproportionately affect the black community and that he had himself been exposed to a ?whole host of risk factors and negative elements? growing up.

But learning about his African heritage ?fostered a sense of pride and knowledge of self which has proven invaluable,? he added.

?Knowing what has been accomplished by one?s own ancestors gives rise to new ambition and to the reality of what one can achieve,? he said.

He called on the black community to embrace their African identity and ?to do all in our power to rally support in alleviation of the misfortunes of the African continent?.

He continued: ?This, in turn, will create the conditions whereby Africans would be able to assume a more contributory role in world affairs, rather than merely existing as the subject of international aid and sympathy. It follows from this that a prudent measure to adopt, by present and would-be leaders of Bermuda, would be to open dialogue and to forge new relations with their African counterparts.?