The ousting of Sheikh Hasina last summer launched a new era in Bangladesh, seemingly turning the page on decades of rivalry between Hasina and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.

Hasina, 77, is currently in self-imposed exile in India. And with 79-year-old Zia traveling to the UK to seek medical treatment this month, Bangladesh is rife with speculation on reviving a controversial doctrine that once aimed to sideline both leaders.

In 2007, the military intervened in Bangladeshi politics and installed a caretaker government in what is known as the "1/11 changeover." The new regime was accused of pursuing the so-called "minus two" formula — the two being Hasina and Zia — after both rival politicians were arrested.

They were released in time for the 2008 election, however, allowing Hasina to retake power and keep it until the mass uprising in 2024.

Now, the country is once again run by a caretaker government, with Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus serving as chief advisor. Yunus and his cabinet hope to enact reforms to the constitution and the electoral system. Only then, according to Yunus, will the country hold a general election.

For the more prominent leaders of Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the current limbo feels uncomfortably familiar.

"We remember those who tried to depoliticize us during........

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