Protesters Dissatisfied with President Speech

Protesters listening to the speech of President Michel Aoun on Thursday

showed dissatisfaction with a speech that came eight days after the uprising began.

Protesters around Lebanon booed and resumed their calls for fundamental reform.

Some people said the speech came “eight days late and failed to give any hope.”

Another protester said “sadly the president today spoke in generalities. We've being hearing these generalities for three years, and they haven't led to anything."

As Aoun spoke, hundreds of people gathered in downtown Beirut listening to his speech through a giant speaker, shouted: "Come on, leave, your term has left us hungry."

The protesters have been venting their frustration at daily woes from lack of healthcare to power cuts, and calling for the replacement of a political system they say is corrupt and broken.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Monday presented a package of reforms, including cutting ministerial salaries, but the peaceful rallies have continued, crippling Beirut and other major cities.

Jad al-Hajj, a mechanical engineering student, said he would also remain in the street after what he described as the president's "meaningless" speech.

"We want him to go and for this era to end -- for all of them to go, including him," he told AFP.