The new leader of Social Democrat Party (PSD), Victor Ponta, is what could be considered a ‘success story’ in Romanian politics, as he managed to take lead of the country’s largest opposition party in only eight years since he joined the organization. After an impressive political rise, Ponta defeated his rival in the race, Mircea Geoana, by 75 votes on Saturday, becoming, at 38, the youngest leader PSD has ever had. He joined politics after serving as prosecutor and since then, he took on several leading positions in state structures, including that of secretary of state, minister and lawmaker, until his surprising election as head of the PSD.

Ponta was born on September 20, 1972 in Bucharest. He graduated from the Bucharest University’s Law School in 1995, after which he continued his law studies in Italy before taking his PhD in International Criminal Law in Bucharest. Between 1995 and 1998 he worked as prosecutor with the Bucharest District 1 Judge Court, after which he got transferred to the Supreme Court’s anti-corruption department, where he worked until 2001. In 2000-2001, he also worked as coordinator of the Bureau against Money Laundering.

It was during his work as a prosecutor that Ponta was noticed by then Prime Minister Adrian Nastase, who took him in the government and named him state secretary in charge of the executive’s Control Body. Ponta also joined the Social Democrats, led by Nastase at the time, and soon became member of the party’s National Council (in October 2002), Central Executive Bureau (in November 2002) and later moved on to becoming vice president (July 2003). In November 2002, he was also elected head of the Social Democrats’ Youth Organization. During the session in which he was elected for the job, Nastase said that, from one side, Ponta looked like Nicolae Titulescu, a reputed Romanian politician in the inter-war period. The jest earned Ponta the now famous nickname “young Titulescu.”

Between 2004 and 2008, Ponta was Deputy of Gorj County and won a second term as lawmaker office in November 2008. In September 2006, he became vice president of the Chamber’s Permanent Bureau and became known for his repeated conflicts with then Justice Minister Monica Macovei, mostly in relation to how magistrates were appointed on their jobs. In the current Parliament structure, he was member of the human rights committee until October 2009, after which he became a member of the legal committee.

On December 22, 2008, Ponta was validated as minister for Parliament relations in a PSD-Democrat Liberal government led by Emil Boc.

Known for his sharp tongue and straightforwardness, Ponta also acted as campaign spokesperson for Mircea Geoana in last year’s presidential campaign. In this position, Ponta often attacked the incumbent head of state, Traian Basescu, who defeated Geoana by a slim margin, accusing him and his PDL backers of having rigged the poll. On the occasion, Ponta made several unusual comments, virtually admitting that PSD also rigged the poll, but insisting that PDL’s “fraud machine” worked better.

His candidacy to PSD’s top post came as a surprise, as it was announced only a few days ahead of the party’s congress. Ponta stepped into the race after his protector Nastase withdrew and quickly secured impressive support from many local branches. On the day of the congress, he also got the backing of two other PSD leadership hopefuls, Miron Mitrea and Radu Mazare.

Currently at his second marriage, Ponta is married to Social Democrat MEP Daciana Sarbu, the daughter of a leading PSD member, ex Agriculture Minister Ilie Sarbu. He and Sarbu have one child together.

Analysts split over real change

While most analysts and commentators praised Ponta’s election as heralding a new era in the PSD, bring likely to bring real change for the largest opposition party, some warned that the young leader could be easily manipulated, given the fact he owes a great deal of his impressive career rise to big names in the PSD, such as Nastase and Mitrea. Analyst and head of the Pro-Democratia Association Cristian Parvulescu said yesterday that Ponta will find it hard to lead the party, as he will not be able to settle down conflicts in the organization. “As long as he takes his power from Adrian Nastase and Ion Iliescu, his leadership will be tough. It’s interesting that Ponta makes no mention about Geoana, as if this was a closed chapter in his life,” Parvulescu said, quoted by Agerpres. He warned that the fight for PSD’s leadership will go on, because there still are big names such as Mitrea or PSD Bucharest leader Marian Vanghelie vying for power.

Analyst Stelian Tanase, however, seemed more optimistic about Ponta’s chances to succeed. Tanase told the news agency that the new PSD leader can rally the party behind him because his youth managed to neutralize themes used as tools against the organization – its communist background and corruption.

Tanase also voiced confidence that PSD under Ponta will cause serious problems to the Democrat Liberals in future local, parliamentary and presidential elections. “PDL did everything possible to make Geoana win at the congress because to them, Geoana is an already defeated rival. But the situation is completely different now, as Ponta is a worse option for PDL, he is not Iliescu and it will be very hard for someone to attack him,” Tanase said.