The Press Secretary of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Tuesday denied reports that the President was willing to step down by the end of this year.
"There was no change in the stance of President Saleh, especially after the president offered his initiative about transferring the power to the parliament by the end of 2011 and leaving his post in 2013," Press secretary Ahmed al-Soufi told Xinhua.
"The difference between Saleh's initiative and the opposition's five-point initiative is about the time - both initiatives called for transferring the power, but differ on the exact time," al- Soufi said.
"Moving the power to the parliament system would be a safe solution to stave off unrest to Yemen," he said adding that "the opposition coalition still insisted on its initiative."
Yemen has apparently reached a turning point after scores of government officials, diplomats, army and security officers have declared their support of pro-reform weeks-long protests since Monday.