Of these, 3 were adopted in May 2008: Some of the main points of Karamanlis' and his New Democracy party propositions are: For his part, the leader of leading opposition party, Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), George Papandreou, proposed: For their part, constitutional theory experts, such as G. Papadimitriou, pointed out that without the participation of the civil society the proposed amendment could not be viable and effective.
[3] Such a participation was going to strengthen the vigor of the political institutions through:[3] In 2001 New Democracy proposed an amendment of the constitution, in order to allow private universities to operate in Greece on a non-profit basis.
[4] This proposal continues however to encounter the fierce opposition of the Left parties, as well as a sizeable part of the academic community, both professors and students.
Former President Christos Sartzetakis agreed with the proposed modification of the constitutional provision, which does not allow the operation of "non-state owned" universities.
[5] During the 2001 constitutional amendment, complete separation of church and state was proposed, but the two major parties, New Democracy and PASOK, decided not to open this controversial matter.
[10] Papandreou proposed the direct election of the President by the people, albeit only in the cases the necessary majority in the Hellenic Parliament could not be achieved, emphasizing that a potential political deadlock could thus be avoided.