(1) If the Governor General considers that a Senator is, by reason of his or her illness or absence from Saint Lucia, unable to perform his or her functions as a member of the Senate the Governor General may—
(a) declare that that Senator is so unable; and
(b) appoint a person to be a Senator for the period of that Senator's inability to perform his or her functions.
(2) A Senator who has been declared, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1), to be unable to perform his or her functions as a member of the Senate shall not take part in the proceedings of the Senate until he or she is declared by the Governor General again to be able to perform those functions.
(3) Without prejudice to the provisions of section 27 a Senator appointed under this section shall vacate his or her seat in the Senate when the Senator on account of whose inability to perform his or her functions he or she was appointed is again declared to be able to perform his or her functions or if that Senator vacates his or her seat.
(4) In the exercise of the powers conferred on him or her by this section the Governor General shall act—
(a) in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister in relation to a Senator appointed in pursuance of section 24(2)(a);
(b) in accordance with the advice of the Leader of the Opposition in relation to a Senator appointed in pursuance of section 24(2)(b); and
© in his or her own deliberate judgment after such consultation as is specified in section 24(2)© in relation to a Senator appointed in pursuance of section 24(2)©.