IN YOUR Friday, July 24 issue, there was a very thought-provoking piece: 'Thwaites: Real unity needed to change Ja'. He might be the lone voice crying in the wilderness but, given the present situation in which we find ourselves, let us not readily dismiss this cry, for it is occasioned by a 'spinning in the mud' situation with no visible or imminent way out of our socio-political quagmire.

Thwaites has called for unity of all and sundry "for at least the next decade". His call for a government of national unity is most interesting because implied is a 'burying of the political hatchet' for the duration of this departure from the Westminster type of government which we have used for decades to pit one side against the other: those with all the solutions, and the others with nothing to offer.

Crab mentality

He reminded us that "the political energy to conceive solutions" is neither a JLP nor a PNP preserve, and rightly so, for Jamaicans of all political persua-sions are certainly gifted by God with wisdom sufficient to address the situation in which we find ourselves. Because of our debilitating 'crab mentality', we remain blinded to our true potential as a nation.

It would be interesting to hear more from opposition parliamen-tarian Thwaites regarding the intricacies of this proposal of his. Clearly, it would be a far cry from the Zimbabwean model, which is barely limping and which has no clear, unifying objective in mind.

In other words, how can one bury the political hatchet "for at least the next decade" in light of the deep, entrenched mental slavery in which we find ourselves? Hopefully rational minds of both parties will at least discuss the proposal of the "lone voice in the wilderness".

I am, etc.,

DONALD J. REECE

Archbishop of Kingston