Daciana Octavia Sârbu (born January 15, 1977) is a Romanian politician, lawyer, and Member of the European Parliament. Affiliated with the Social Democratic Party (PSD), part of the Party of European Socialists, she became a member of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies for Argeş County following the 2004 elections, and became an MEP on January 1, 2007, with the accession of Romania to the European Union. She is the daughter of Ilie Sârbu, a PSD member who served as Minister of Agriculture in the Adrian Năstase cabinet and holds the same position in the Emil Boc cabinet.

Born in Arad, Sârbu graduated from Law School at the West University of Timişoara, where she was awarded a Master's Degree in Commercial law (2003). She also graduated from the National College of Defense in 2002, and later opened a law practice.

In 1996, Sârbu joined the PSD (known as PDSR at the time), and in 2001 became an Adviser for the Controlling Body of the Romanian Premiership in the Năstase cabinet. She withdrew from this office in 2003, and became a State Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Research, later serving as Head of the National Authority for the Youth. In her party, she became one of the leaders of the youth and women's wings, taking part in the International Union of Socialist Youth structures, and attending its Congress of 2004.

Victor-Viorel Ponta (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈviktor ˈponta]; born 20 September 1972) is a Romanian jurist and politician. A member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and its leader since 2010, he has been a member of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies for Gorj County since 2004. In the Emil Boc cabinet, he was Minister-Delegate for Relations with Parliament from 2008 to 2009. The joint leader of the Social Liberal Union, he became Prime Minister of Romania in May 2012.

He was born in Bucharest, completing secondary studies in 1991 at the city's Ion Neculce High School. In 1995, he graduated from the University of Bucharest's Law faculty. In 2000, he received a master's degree in International Criminal Law from the University of Catania; he received a degree from the Carol I National Defence University in 2002, and in 2003 received a doctorate in Criminal Law from the University of Bucharest and a master's degree in Political Management from the Social Democratic Institute. He has written several books in his field, including one on the International Criminal Court, the subject of his doctoral thesis. Between 1996 and 1998, and since 2002, he has taught Criminal Law at the Romanian-American University. From 1995 to 1998, Ponta worked as a prosecutor handling cases at the Sector 1 courthouse. From 1998 to 2001, he was a prosecutor at the Supreme Court of Justice in the anti-corruption division, in particular dealing with economic and financial crimes. From 2000 to 2001, he coordinated the Bureau for Combating Money Laundering.