Sanaa, Yemen (CNN) -- Embattled Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has authorized his vice president to negotiate a transfer of power with opposition parties, the state-run Saba News Agency reported Monday. Vice President Abd Rabo Mansou Hadi has "the constitutional authority to conduct a dialogue with the signatories of the initiative made by the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council for the Arab Gulf States," Saleh said in a presidential decree published by Saba. The president, who has been in Saudi Arabia recuperating from a bomb attack for more than three months, said he was acting "to reach a political solution to the current political crisis and in order to preserve Yemen's unity, security and stability."
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The opposition coalition group's spokesman calls the move a stalling tactic
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Vice President Hadi has the authority to negotiate transfer, President Saleh says
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Saleh has been in Saudi Arabia recuperating from a bomb attack
The decree gives @placeholder authority to sign the proposal, which would result in early presidential elections intended to ensure a peaceful transfer of power.