Adriana Săftoiu

[4] In 2004, Săftoiu was elected to Parliament as a PD member, but resigned her seat five days later, after being appointed adviser within the Communications Department and press secretary to incoming President Băsescu; the two positions cannot be held simultaneously.

[4] One episode that marked her tenure was a conflict with Defence Minister Teodor Atanasiu, whom she took to court in July 2006 for abuse of office, accusing him of using the Army intelligence service to spy on her, following a comment he made on television to that effect.

She stated it was for strictly personal reasons, but others cited an e-mail she sent to PD secretary general Vasile Blaga, in which she asked for his intervention with Băsescu to reconcile her family relations, which had allegedly deteriorated due to the intrigues of administration colleague Elena Udrea.

[4] In a February 2008 interview, she remarked that Băsescu, whom she accused of creating a Messiah image for himself, and Udrea, whom she described as "dreaded but not respected", rule the PDL (into which the PD had by then evolved) by fear.

[12] That summer, she joined the PNL, running for a seat in Prahova County, considered the fiefdom of one of Băsescu's most trenchant opponents, businessman Dinu Patriciu.