Ahead of Ivory Coast’s Saturday election, there is an air of apathy in Abidjan’s Blockhauss neighborhood, where hundreds of protesters were arrested and several wounded during protests earlier this month.

Security forces launched tear gas at demonstrators during the protest, which authorities claimed was illegal as they had banned political marches days earlier.

Elections in Ivory Coast have often been fraught with tension and violence, but despite October’s protests, this year has been relatively calm.

At a hair salon in the neighborhood, barber Aristide N’zebo said he hoped that the election would pass peacefully because tensions have slowed things down economically for the neighborhood.

“For some time now, given the situation in the country, things haven't been moving too much. Things have become a bit slow, and when things get slow, everything gets expensive again, he said.

“So we aren’t doing too well.”

He said he had faith that the election would go on without problems, and was looking forward to things getting back to normal.

Local orange seller Awa Diarra said whoever wins the election, she is only interested in peace.

“We only want peace. That's all. So that everyone can go about their business. Peace. That's all we ask for.”

Ivory Coast saw intense violence following the 2010 election, when Laurent Gbagbo refused to concede defeat. About 3,000 people were killed in the unrest.