Over the past 10 years, Malaysiakini has without fail picked a newsmaker come December, as we bring the curtain down on the year.

A newsmaker is defined as “someone whose actions make news headlines, who effects the course of public discourse and creates an impact in Malaysian politics, for better or worse”.

For 2011, we have decided to break from our decade-old tradition, and instead let Malaysiakini readers select their choice from a list of seven.

As many would have expected, it was really a two-horse race...