Sana'a, April 3 (IANS) Yemen's opposition Saturday told embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh to hand over power to his deputy as part of a fresh initiative towards forming a temporary unity government that will oversee the drafting of a new constitution besides carrying out urgent economic reforms in the country, Xinhua reported.

The opposition Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) proposed five points under which the power will be transferred from Saleh to Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, who is a member of Saleh's ruling General People's Congress party.

The JMP said it is trying to restore Yemen's political process, meet the demands of the people and peaceful transfer of power.

The vice president should revamp the National Security Agency, the Central Security Forces and the Republican Guards Forces, immediately after Saleh hands over power to him, it said.

"The interim president and the JMP will go ahead to form a transitional national council, which includes representatives from all political parties, to draft a new constitution in the light of the results of the comprehensive national dialogue," the JMP said in a statement.

It proposed to form a temporary national unity government led by the opposition that will work with the interim president to fix the financial and economic problems in the country.

The initiative included setting up of a temporary military council and a committee to safeguard people's rights.

The JMP has also demanded an independent probe into cases involving abuse and killing of anti-government protesters.