The gloves are off. What has been simmering for a year has come to a boil.

Few had expected that ex-premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad - a Malaysiakini Newsmaker of 2005 - would fade away quietly. Lately, however, he has gone beyond sniping from the sidelines.

The tipping point was clearly the shocking decision by his handpicked successor to abandon plans for the half-bridge heading to Singapore.