Select the most appropriate option that can substitute the underlined words in…

Concept: In a word-substitution question, the correct replacement must match the underlined phrase in BOTH meaning and grammatical role — a word that only shares a loose theme with the phrase is not enough; it must denote the same specific idea the phrase expresses.

Application: The underlined phrase "official statement" describes a formal public announcement made by an authority to convey or clarify information. "Proclamation" denotes exactly this — an official public announcement issued to inform or clarify a matter — so it replaces the phrase without changing the sentence's meaning: "The government issued a proclamation to clarify the situation."

Cross-check — why the other options don't fit:

• "Manifesto" is a declaration of policy, beliefs, or future intentions (e.g., a political party's manifesto) — it states what will be done, not a statement clarifying something already announced.

• "Degree" denotes an academic qualification or a level/extent of a quality — it carries no sense of a public or official announcement at all.

• "Annulment" means formally declaring something — a contract, a marriage — legally void; it has no connection to issuing information to the public.

Only "Proclamation" preserves both the meaning and the formal register of "official statement" in this sentence.