Suga vows to digitize government and push down mobile fees

PM-in-waiting says economy is current focus, not the next election

Yoshihide Suga wants reform, notably in the government's response to the pandemic and with large telecoms and their predatory pricing policies. (Nikkei montage)

Nikkei staff writers

September 14, 2020 16:33 JST

Updated on September 14, 2020 22:44 JST

TOKYO -- Fresh from his anointment as president of Japan's ruling party, Yoshihide Suga vowed Monday to focus on tackling the coronavirus pandemic and the nation's economic woes, rather than calling a snap election.

"I want to do work," not elections, Japan's prime minister-in-waiting told reporters in Tokyo a few hours after his widely expected landslide victory in a Liberal Democratic Party vote. "What people are asking us to do is bring the coronavirus under control and get the economy back on its feet."