Section 7: Filling of vacancies on Council

7. Filling of vacancies on Council (1) Where a member of the Council dies, retires, resigns or is removed from office, the vacancy thereby caused shall be filled, for the remaining period of the term of office— (a) in the case of a member appointed by the Minister, by a fresh appointment; (b) in the case of an elected member, by appointing the person who obtained the highest number of votes in the relevant category of nurses or midwives, as appropriate, after the elected members at the preceding election held in accordance with the provisions of the Schedule; (c) where no person is qualified for appointment under paragraph (b), by holding a fresh election for that category. (2) Where a member absents himself with the approval of the Council for a continuous period of 6 months or more, the Council may cause him to be replaced by a new member appointed in the manner specified in subsection (1) (a) or (1) (b), as the case may be, for the period during which the member absents himself.