Lee praised Wu as an "idealist who is unlikely to bow to either political or business pressures" while enforcing reforms.
He is also a practical and goal-oriented businessman with leadership ability, who has a great deal of experience in administering the DPP's talent pool, Lee said. He said Wu's political clout and associations should be seen as a positive.
"His close connections [with Chen] will make it easier for him to reform the bourse," Lee said. "Empowered by higher-ups, Wu won't hesitate to eliminate the deep-rooted bad practices in the market."
Wu, 56, was born into a rich family in central Taichung and had never been on a payroll until 2000, when he started getting a paycheck after succeeding political crony Chiu I-jen (邱義仁) to the post of DPP secretary-general.
After witnessing the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) tampering with votes at an Ilan polling station, Wu joined the opposition movement in his 20s and devoted himself to the DPP's growth and the nation's democratization.
He was appointed to head state-owned Taiwan Sugar Corp (Taisugar, 台糖) in 2002, but never really quit politics. His decision to leave Taisugar and throw himself into the 2004 presidential campaign led to criticism in July that his appointment was a political payoff.
Some people have questioned how well he can do his job when a controversy hangs over his wife, Chan Tsai-hung (詹彩虹).
Chan rose from a middle-rank employee at the Bank of Taiwan before 2000 to president of the Securities and Futures Investors Protection Center (證券投資人及期貨交易人保護中心).
Such criticism, however, has never bothered Wu, who believes that the couple's performance will eventually silence their critics.
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