The three-decade veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency’s covert operations is facing opposition over her role at a secret CIA prison in Thailand in 2002 where Al-Qaeda detainees were waterboarded.

“I understand that what many people around the country want to know about are my views on CIA’s former detention and interrogation program,” she will say, according to prepared testimony for her hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

“I have views on this issue, and I want to be clear.

“Having served in that tumultuous time, I can offer you my personal commitment, clearly and without reservation, that under my leadership, CIA will not restart such a detention and interrogation program.”

Haspel, who if approved would become the first woman to lead the premier US spy agency, is facing tough questioning over her involvement in the torture of Al-Qaeda detainees in her confirmation hearing before the powerful Senate panel.

Critics from rights groups, a significant number of retired general and admirals, and some from the intelligence community, have opposed the nomination over her ties to the secret detention and interrogation program that followed the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Under the program, major Al-Qaeda suspects Abu Zubaydah, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed all went underwent brutal treatment, including waterboarding.

Former CIA officials say Haspel was present when Nashiri was tortured at the CIA’s Bangkok “black site” in 2002.

According to her prepared testimony, released by the CIA, Haspel will commit herself to firm oversight by Congress, which in the early days of the torture program was not informed despite questions over its legality.

“Experience has taught us that CIA cannot be effective without the people’s trust,” the prepared remarks read.

“And we cannot hope to earn that trust without the accountability that comes with Congressional oversight. If we can’t share aspects of our secret work with the public, we should do so with their elected representatives.”

A group of 19 refugees in five households left the Ban Mai Nai Soi camp in Mae Hong Son province voluntarily, according to Thai officials who saw them off yesterday.

The refugees were sent across the border via the trading checkpoint at Ban Huai Ton Nun in Khun Yuam district. They followed an initial group of 71 refugees repatriated in October 2016 and 73 others sent home via Tak on Monday.

Myanmar officials led by Colonel Myint Wai, Kayah state’s Minister of Security and Border Affairs, welcomed them back in a ceremony attended by Natapanu Nopakun of the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s Department of International Organisations and representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The Ban Mai Nai Soi refugee camp now holds about 8,000 people, down from a peak of more than 20,000. Many have found homes in third countries, while others returned to Myanmar. A source at the camp said the latest group of 19 people initially numbered 29, but the others changed their mind following a report of Myanmar government troops being deployed to Kayah in mid-April.

The source claimed the same infantry battalion had pursued the Karenni National Progressive Army in 2005, resulting in clashes just west Mae Hong Son.

Meanwhile the group of 73 refugees from 23 households crossed the border at Ban Rim Moei in Mae Sot district in Tak on Monday following a ceremony presided over by Third Army Region deputy chief Major General Supachoke Thawatpeerachai. The 73 came from camps in Tha Song Yang, Phop Phra and Umphang districts in Tak and another camp in neighbouring Kanchanaburi.

They were driven across the border in vans to be greeted in Myawaddy by Kayin state Chief Minister Nann Khin Htway Myint and other senior officials. Myanmar Ambassador Myo Myint Than witnessed the event and thanked the Thai government and agencies involved, including the UNHRC and non-governmental organisations, for taking care of the refugees.

Although it has never signed the 1951 UN Refugee convention, Thailand has sheltered more than 100,000 refugees in camps in four border provinces. Thailand and Myanmar reached a deal to repatriate them after some armed ethnic groups signed a National Ceasefire Agreement with the government in Nay Pyi Taw in 2015.

Refugees still in Thailand have begun making plans for their return, in the hope that peace and stability will prevail in their places of origin in southeastern Myanmar, according to a UNHCR statement.

The UN Refugee agency says conditions in southeastern Myanmar are enabling facilitation of voluntary return of more refugees from Thailand.

Conditions in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, however, are not yet conducive for the return of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh, the UNHCR adds. Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in November to send back some of the 700,000 Rohinghya who fled a violent crackdown last year.

Security officials were seen patrolling the boundary and checkpoints in Kelantan, which is opposite Narathiwat’s Sugnai Kolok district.

People are allowed to pass into Malaysia at only two of the eight checkpoints along the border at that location, Thai authorities say.

The 200 dual nationals were deported back to Thailand after they were caught taking 50 Ringgit (Bt 400) each for voting, a border source said. It was understood that they would each get another 200 Ringgit if they managed to cast their ballots today.

There are significant numbers of people in border provinces of Thailand who hold both nationalities and their votes would increase the chances of victory for candidates in northern constituencies.

Northern Kelantan state is a stronghold of opposition to the Malaysian Islamic Party, commonly known as PAS.

The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition led by Prime Minister Najib Razak is tipped to win the election against a coalition of opposition parties, led by 92-year-old former leader Mahathir Mohamad.

Mahathir headed the BN and was the prime minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003. He is leading the coalition with his protege Anwar Ibrahim, who was fired and jailed in the late 1990s. Anwar, who has been serving another jail term since 2015, urged Malaysians to vote for Mahathir.

The opposition hopes a surge of support from disillusioned members of the country’s Muslim majority can carry them to an unlikely victory.

They believe Mahathir’s connection to rural Muslim voters can trigger what they have dubbed a “Malay tsunami” and unseat Najib’s coalition after six decades in power.

Amid escalating anger over a massive financial scandal, Mahathir came out of retirement to take on his former protege Najib, upending an election race that had long looked like an easy win for the government.

BN candidates have never believed in the so-called Malay tsunami. Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said in The Star that Mahathir should be “taking care of his grandkids” instead of staying in politics.

Malays, who make up some 60 per cent of the country’s 32 million people, have long formed the bedrock of support for the BN coalition, and winning over the group is key to victory in the election.

BN has pushed policies that favour Malays over the country’s substantial ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities, supporting them with financial handouts and priority in securing government jobs.

The opposition, which has sought to project a more multi-racial image, has been unable to mobilise support among rural Malays, adding to difficulties of trying to unseat a deeply entrenched government.

But Mahathir’s decision to join the opposition is threatening Najib’s Muslim support base as anger grows over soaring living costs and corruption.

Despite the anger, however, Najib is still expected to win due to what the opposition claims is poll-rigging, and a system that requires only a simple majority of MPs in parliament to maintain power.

Malay complaints over rising costs and stagnant wages have been growing louder in recent years, especially in the countryside, and after the introduction of an unpopular sales tax in 2015.

The scandal surrounding sovereign wealth fund 1MDB has not helped, although in rural areas the complex controversy has generally taken a back seat to economic worries.

Kay Kimsong, editor-in-chief of The Phnom Penh Post, was fired on Monday by a representative for the newspaper’s new Malaysian owner Sivakumar S Ganapathy, a day after The Post published an article about links between his public relations firm and the Hun Sen government.

Representatives for the paper’s new owners ordered senior staff on Monday to remove from the newspaper’s website what they described as a “damaging” article that they said contained a litany of factual inaccuracies.

Five senior staff members – Managing Editor Stuart White, Digital Director Jodie DeJonge, Web Editor Jenni Reid, Business Editor Brendan O’Byrne and senior journalist Ananth Baliga – resigned in protest, as well as CEO Marcus Holmes.

Afterwards, Kimsong told staffers that Ly Tayseng, a Cambodian lawyer who represents the buyer, told him he had made “a serious mistake” in publishing the article and fired him.

Tayseng also informed staff that Joshua Purushotman would be the new editor in chief of The Post“ starting today” and that all articles would be approved by him.

In a meeting with staff, Tayseng and Purushotman defended Kimsong’s firing as a business matter.

“The business is losing money. We have [to] recruit the new editor in chief, and he’s coming to work starting from today. So we don’t have to pay two for the same position,” Tayseng said. “This is just normal business restructuring.”

However, during an internal meeting with senior staff, Purushotman told Post employees that the “article damages our reputation”.

Tayseng and Purushotman also declined offers to discuss the article’s alleged inaccuracies in detail.

Both insisted that paper would neither be pro- or anti-government going forward.

“We’re not pro-government, we’re not anti-government either,” said Tayseng.

The dual-language Phnom Penh Post was founded in 1992. The other independent newspaper in the country, the Cambodia Daily, closed in September last year.

Chad Williams, who served as editor-in-chief of The Post for nearly three years, called it “personally devastating to watch this afternoon’s events unfold from afar” but added that it “pales in comparison to the actual loss it represents for Cambodia”.

Williams noted The Post’s history of reporting on illegal logging, forced evictions and vote rigging.

Moeun Chhean Naridh, director of the Cambodia Institute for Media Studies, said the new owners overstepped journalistic ethics by interfering in editorial affairs.

“As an independent newspaper, editors should be allowed to make decisions,” he said. “The management shouldn’t have been involved.”

Huy Vannak, president of the Union of Journalist Federations of Cambodia and a Ministry of Interior official, declined to comment on what he called The Post’s “internal affairs” but added that Cambodia is “too free” when it comes to press freedom compared to neighbouring countries.

“Both the owners and the editorial team need to understand the direction of the business,” Vannak said.

The effect of the takeover was also felt in the political world. Former CNRP chief Sam Rainsy said he was “even more worried about the upcoming election”. Sam Inn, secretary-general for the Grassroots Democracy Party, which will be competing in July, said the takeover is “not a good development”.

Tearful staff members say goodbye to Kay Kimsong who was fired Monday as editor-in-chief of The Phnom Penh Post.

But CPP spokesman Sok Eysan said aggrieved staff should file a complaint against the new owners.

“If [Kimsong] does not file a complaint against them, it means that they have done correctly,” he said.

The mood in the office on Monday was grim, with staff visibly upset as they walked Kimsong out of the office.

Kimsong, who took the helm of the masthead in September after years as the editor of Post Khmer, told staff and reporters outside the office that he made “the right decision”.

“I am happy for running the front page today,” he said. “I think that is what the profession of journalism is all about – their job is telling the truth. The owner does not accept the truth.”

Chief of staff Chhay Channyda, a Post employee for 10 years, said she was in shock but would wait to see how the new owners manage the paper.

“I love The Post. I love the environment. I love the colleagues. And I love how free the press is at The Post,” she said.

“It’s been a sad day for me,” she added. “I’ve been here for about ten years to serve one of the country’s independent newspapers. But today The Post is changing. And I don’t know what happens next.”

The 44-year-old, who is known for his fiery oratory skills, stirred up the Sepanggar ceramah crowd on Monday (May 7) night, saying that those thirsty for change should support him.

“Don’t vote for me because I’m a Bajau, don’t vote for me because I’m a Muslim, and don’t vote for me because people say I am a ‘handsome boy’.

“Instead, vote for me if you think it’s time for Sabah to change,” said the Warisan Wira chief in Sepanggar with a dimpled smile.

He is said to be the toughest challenge for the smooth-talking, ever-smiling Abdul Rahman, the incumbent Kota Belud MP who has moved to Sepanggar.

Azis, who left Semporna Umno in 2016 to join Warisan led by Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, also cautioned the people against supporting smaller, local-based parties, saying they have no chance of forming the government, even if they ended up winning all the seats contested in GE14.

He said this was because these smaller native parties, such as the four-party local opposition coalition Gabungan Sabah, are contesting fewer than 31 seats each, the number required for a party to form the state government.

“Although Warisan has a seat-sharing pact with Pakatan Harapan, Warisan is contesting 44 seats,” he pointed out.

Gabungan comprises SAPP, led by former chief minister Datuk Yong Teck Lee; Sabah STAR headed by Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan; Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah led by former Umno supreme council member Datuk Lajim Ukin; and Parti Perpaduan Rakyat Sabah led by Mohd Arshad Abdul Mualaf.

Sepanggar, encompassing the naval base, as well as the federal as well as state administrative centres, is a mixed area with migrants from all over the country settling there.

Located near state capital Kota Kinabalu, it is a mixed race seat with 62,415 voters of which 34,484 are Muslim bumiputra, 15,370 are non-Muslim bumiputra, 11,847 Chinese and 714 classified as others.

The Sepanggar constituency has two state seats under it – Inanam and Karambunai. In 2013, Barisan won the Sepanggar and Karambunai seats but lost Inanam to PKR’s Dr Roland Chia.

Sporadic traffic congestion was reported on Tuesday (May 8) along the North-South Expressway, Kuala Lumpur-Karak and Gua Musang highways, while traffic within the city is lighter than usual.

The Malaysian Highway Authority reported on Twitter that the biggest crawl can be seen on the Karak highway as voters head towards the north and east of the peninsula.

Selangor Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department chief Supt Azman Shari’at, however, said traffic in the state was still normal.

He advised anyone travelling back to vote to be careful and courteous on the road.

“Follow the speed limit and don’t be in a rush,” he said, adding that carpooling is also recommended.

The refugees – who had fled fighting in Kayah state 27 years ago and had been living at the Ban Mai Nai Soi camp in Muang Mae Hong Son – returned home voluntarily.

They were sent across the border via the traders’ checkpoint in Ban Huai Ton Nun in Khun Yuam district.

They followed an initial group of 71 refugees repatriated in October 2016 and 73 others sent home via Tak on Monday.

Myanmar officials led by Colonel Myint Wai, Kayah state’s Minister of Security and Border Affairs, welcomed them back in a ceremony attended by Natapanu Nopakun of the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s Department of International Organisations and representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The Ban Mai Nai Soi refugee camp now holds about 8,000 people, down from a peak of more than 20,000. Many have found homes in third countries, while others returned to Myanmar.

A source at the camp said the latest group of 19 people should have numbered 29, but the others changed their mind following a report about Myanmar government light infantry being deployed to Kayah in mid-April.

The source claimed the same infantry battalion had pursued the Karenni National Progressive Army in 2005, with combat taking place just west Mae Hong Son.

The 73 returned on Monday follow 71 sent back in October 2016.

They crossed the border at Ban Rim Moei in Mae Sot district following a ceremony at which Third Army Region deputy chief Major General Supachoke Thawatpeerachai presided.

The 73 came from camps in Tha Song Yang, Phop Phra and Umphang districts in Tak and another in Kanchanaburi.

They were driven across the border in vans to be greeted in Myawaddy by Kayin state Chief Minister Nann Khin Htway Myint and other senior officials.

Myanmar Ambassador U Myo Myint Than witnessed the event and thanked the Thai government and agencies involved, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and non-governmental organisations, for taking care of the refugees.