Kathmandu, Sept. 21 -- On August 28, when Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who was in Singapore for medical treatment, sent a message asking the Cabinet to hold a teleconference, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Ishwar Pokhrel immediately called on Nepal Communist Party General Secretary Bishnu Poudel.

According to several party insiders, Pokhrel, who was acting prime minister in Oli's absence, had no idea about the teleconference, and had to ask Poudel whether he knew why the prime minister was calling a Cabinet meeting from Singapore.

The fact that the acting prime minister had to call on the party general secretary for clarification on Oli's decision was a telling example of how the prime minister, and Singha Durbar, funct...