I feel a sense of responsibility for the fact that the current internal issues within the Government have disrupted the deliberations in the Diet, resulting in an unfortunate situation. In order to break through this situation as soon as possible, and normalize the debate over the second Supplementary Budget for FY2001 and the budget for the coming fiscal year, I spoke to Minister for Foreign Affairs Makiko Tanaka and Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoshiji Nogami to ask their cooperation in breaking through this situation. Foreign Minister Tanaka indicated that she understood the situation. For his part, Vice Foreign Minister Nogami, as the person responsible from the bureaucracy side, stated his intent to resign in light of his responsibility for the current confusion, and now, the necessary steps are being taken toward that end. Furthermore, Chairman Muneo Suzuki of the Committee on Rules and Administration of the House of Representatives stated to me that he was prepared at any time to take responsibility for the chaos in the Diet since yesterday and asked me to take the necessary preparations so that he could take responsibility for the situation himself. Hearing his intention to resign today and seeing that he conducted himself graciously, I accepted his resignation. Looking forward, we must carry on the deliberations in the Diet and create a structure so that the Ministry for Foreign Affairs can be united in dealing with the mounting diplomatic issues that must be addressed and advancing our nation's diplomatic policy as quickly as possible.
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