A senior ruling party lawmaker suggested Saturday that the resignation of Prime Minister Naoto Kan should be considered as an option to gain Diet approval for bills vital to the fiscal 2011 budget.

"We need to prioritize the passage of the budget proposal over the DPJ, Kan and whoever," said Kozo Watanabe, a "supreme adviser" in the Democratic Party of Japan.

While the budget proposal itself would eventually clear the Diet if the more powerful House of Representatives approves it, opposition parties, which control the House of Councilors, have said they would vote against the related bills that are necessary to implement the budget.