Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's resignation now appears inevitable, a senior New Komeito leader indicated Monday.

"The tide has turned completely. He should consider an honorable retreat," the lawmaker told reporters on condition of anonymity.

Since last week, New Komeito, a key partner in the coalition led by Mori's Liberal Democratic Party, has been stepping up pressure on the prime minister to resign amid plunging popular support.

Many of Mori's LDP colleagues also appear to be distancing themselves from him.

Also on Monday, LDP election bureau chief Muneo Suzuki said during a meeting of party supporters in Sapporo, Hokkaido, that Mori should "make a decision for the sake of Japan."

Suzuki, a member of the Lower House, belongs to the LDP's largest faction, led by Ryutaro Hashimoto, state minister in charge of administrative reform.

Former LDP Secretary General Hiromu Nonaka meanwhile ruled out any possibility of succeeding Mori. New Komeito and the LDP's other coalition partner, the New Conservative Party, reportedly favor Nonaka because he has been a key conduit between the LDP and its allies.

"It is an honor that my name has been whispered, but it is 200 percent impossible for me to do it," Nonaka, 75, told reporters in Sapporo, citing his age as a reason.

Calls within the ruling camp for Mori to exit have intensified in the wake of a number of verbal gaffes and scandals involving both himself and his party.

But with the LDP and its allies expected to face a setback in the July Upper House election, the prime minister's post is proving to be a hot potato.

Public disquiet increased when it was revealed that he continued to play golf for nearly two hours on Feb. 10 after learning that a Japanese fisheries training ship had been sunk by a surfacing U.S. submarine off Hawaii.

The daily Asahi Shimbun reported Monday that public support for Mori's Cabinet has plummeted to 9 percent -- down 10 percentage points from a previous survey conducted in January -- marking its lowest point since the Cabinet's launch in April.

It was also the second-lowest for any Cabinet since the newspaper started taking polls in 1946. The record low, of 7 percent, came in 1989 for the Cabinet of the late Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita in the wake of the Recruit stocks-for-favors scandal.

In another poll, Nippon Television Network Corp. said support for Mori's Cabinet had dropped to 5.4 percent, while the disapproval rate had risen to 82.4 percent. The poll was conducted from Friday to Sunday and covered 1,000 people nationwide, the TV station said.

Meanwhile, Mori reiterated that he has no intention to step down.

"What I must accomplish at any cost is to revive the economy," he Mori told the Lower House Budget Committee. "And for that, I am making efforts to have the (fiscal 2001) budget approved. Also, I intend to fulfill my responsibilities over such issues as educational reform and the advancement of information and technology."

Shizuka Kamei, the LDP's policy chief, defended Mori by arguing that changing prime ministers too frequently is dangerous.

"We have had 10 prime ministers over 10 years, and in this situation, it would be a miracle of miracles to choose a saint each time," Kamei said during a luncheon at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan. "If the prime minister changed constantly, it would destroy this country."

Kamei, who heads an LDP faction, is one of the dwindling number of Mori supporters.

At the Tokyo Stock Exchange, DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama told reporters that the sagging stock market reflects the political situation.

The market is calling for "not only the overthrow of the current Cabinet but also the creation of new politics," Hatoyama said.

The key 225-issue Nikkei average's fell below 13,000 to set a net intraday low for this year during morning trading.

Hatoyama also said the prime minister's support rate is not being pulled down only by Mori himself but also by the LDP.

Like Mori, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda has ruled out the prime minister's resignation anytime soon, saying he must first ensure that the Diet approves the fiscal 2001 budget, which is expected to be voted on in the first week of March.

"We have our duties to complete, and any political deadlock or confusion (that will hamper the budget's passage) must be avoided," Fukuda said when asked to comment on Mori's popularity ratings.

"Our top priority remains to have the budget passed at the earliest possible time," Fukuda said. The budget is expected to clear the Lower House, which is given precedence over the Upper House over budgetary matters, as early as the first week of March.