BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt announced Sunday he would take the helm of his party one last time, saying he would not run in any future election for the party’s top post.

“My candidacy today is the last one and we should consider the new council to be elected as a transitional or temporary council until we reach new elections that should take not longer than a year,” Jumblatt said during his party’s annual general assembly meeting in Aley.

The veteran politician also said the notion of inheritance of power should be rid from the party’s philosophy, adding that all members of the Druze community could seek to run for the leadership of the party.

Jumblatt was re-elected as head of the PSP last week by default given the absence of other candidates in the election. Jumblatt, who succeeded his father Kamal Jumblatt following his assassination, has led the PSP since 1977.

Sunday’s gathering was aimed at electing members to the new leadership council, one that Jumblatt said would be transitional until the next elections. The party’s Leadership Council is made up of 19 members, five of whom are directly appointed by the PSP leader.

Jumblatt has already given his son, Taymour,29, a leading position in the party, part of a broader move to “inject new, young blood” into the PSP.

In the widely anticipated speech, Jumblatt also touched on developments in the region, namely Syria and Lebanon.

He reiterated his support for the divisive issue of funding for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, something that Hezbollah and its allies in the March 8 coalition have outright rejected.

Jumblatt is represented by a small number of ministers in the government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who along with President Michel Sleiman have voiced support for funding the tribunal, which indicted in late June four members of Hezbollah in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

“Funding the tribunal is a fundamental principle and is key for stability while taking into consideration Hezbollah’s reservations,” Jumblatt said, stressing on the importance of reactivating the stalled national dialogue sessions.

The PSP leader said that national dialogue was the only way to resolve the issue of the national defense strategy, which includes the issue of Hezbollah’s weapons. Hezbollah says its arms are not up for debate.

“The principle of the state is important to everyone including the resistance,” he added.

He also stressed the need for the demarcation of the borders between Lebanon and Syria and rejected any justification for violations of the border.

Jumblatt also said Lebanon had obligations to look after Syrian refugees fleeing unrest in their country and urged authorities to respect the right to political asylum as well as the right to the freedom of political expression.

Jumblatt also rejected that Lebanon be used to launch operations against Syria.

“No to any use of Lebanon’s territory for security measures against Syria,” Jumblatt told the participants at the gathering.

The United Nations says over 3,000 Syrians, mostly civilians, have been killed in a brutal crackdown by Damascus in an attempt to crush protests calling for the departure of President Bashar Assad. Syrian authorities deny targeting civilians, blaming “armed gangs” for the deaths.

During his speech Sunday, Jumblatt also voiced criticism of the work of what he described as agents for the Syrian Baath party who he claimed had kidnapped Syrian dissident Shibli al-Aisamy.

“The disappearance of Shibli al-Aisamy at the hands of the diplomatic shabiha [thugs] who are Baath members is unacceptable and the truth has not been revealed yet,” he added.

Earlier this month, Internal Security Forces head Maj. Gen Ashraf Rifi implicated the Syrian Embassy in Lebanon of involvement in the kidnapping of several Syrian nationals in the country.

On Oct. 18, Internal Security Forces (ISF) Police Chief Ahsraf Rifi released a detailed report to the media implicating the Syrian Embassy and ISF personnel in the kidnapping of Syrian opposition figures and Aisamy. The Syrian embassy has denied such allegations.

Aisamy went missing from the town of Aley in May. He fled Syria in 1966 over political differences with then President Hafez Assad and has since lived in Iraq, Egypt and the United States. He has not reportedly been involved in politics since 1992.

At the domestic level, Jumblatt said administrative reforms were needed and called for a review into the issue of the minimum wage to arrive at a solution that would please both the labor unions and employers.

“The most appropriate thing is to think of ourselves because the outside [foreign countries] does not think of us,” Jumblatt said, urging lawmakers to look into Lebanon’s debt and resolve the issue without any help from foreign countries.