Audrey Matura-Shepherd Reveals Who Has Asked Her to Run for Office

Audrey Matura-Shepherd

Matura-Shepherd was also asked about her political future. It’s become the propaganda of choice for the United Democratic Party, which for weeks has been claiming that Matura-Shepherd has been compromised by the People’s United Party. So in a carefully rehearsed play this morning, Guardian reporter Shane Williams asked Matura-Shepherd if she had been approached by any party to run on their slate. The union president stated very candidly that indeed she was approached to run in Fort George.

Reporter

“Can you tell us if the leaders of any of the major political parties have reached out to you to run for office in the last twelve months and what is your position on party politics?”

Audrey Matura-Shepherd, President, CWU

“Well I like that question because, yes, there has been one political party that approached me to run for office. It was the United Democratic Party. Miss Audrey Wallace went to my office at that time to ask if I would run in the Fort George Division. At that time, I was working with OCEANA. I told her yes I would do it on one condition. And she asked me what that condition was and I told her that there would be no offshore drilling. She said never and I then answered never. That’s the only political party that has asked me to run for office. I have told the P.U.P. out of joke when some of their members—not anyone in high office—run the joke with me…jokingly I say, well if you want me to take over the leadership then I will consider it. So it is clear cut. Clearly people seem to think that I want to be in their political parties. I don’t know how to shake that off, but clearly I have become the new opposition. But I’m not the constitutional opposition. Francis Fonseca is the official opposition leader. Will I talk with all political parties? Yes, I have nothing against anyone of them, any of the leaders, even my prime minister; anyone I will speak with. But I am entitled—despite speaking with them, talking with them, meeting with them, being friendly with them, doing business with them—I am entitled to my personal position, I am entitled to my right to my opinions and I am entitled to do the work that I want to do and union work is one of them and advocacy through my legal practice is one of them.”

Matura-Shepherd has maintained that she is not entertaining any thoughts of running for politics, at least not in the immediate future.