PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos proposed an overall revision of the Constitution, the first phase of which could be completed by the parliament to arise from the May 6 general elections, in a televised address on Wednesday during which he presented his party's platform on governance.

Greece, he said, needs a major "national and social pact for a 'New State', a democracy of consensus, because nothing is achieved with marginal majorities".

He also proposed changes to the election procedure for the President of the Republic, noting that if parliament fails to elect a President with a three-fifths majority (180 votes in the 300-member parliament), then recourse should be taken in the electoral body, while he also suggested that the President be given new regulatory authorities.