In an effort to defuse discontent brewing within the party after senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal publicly criticised the leadership and the government, the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) has called its secretariat meeting on Sunday.

Following a one-and-a-half hour discussion in Baluwatar on Friday, party Chairpersons KP Sharma Oli, who is also the prime minister, and Pushpa Kamal Dahal summoned the meeting of the nine-member party secretariat, which takes crucial decisions related to the party and the government.

Though party leaders say that disputes and differences within the governing party are manageable, Nepal’s displeasure voiced in Parliament against the functioning of the government and the subsequent tea reception where he also criticised the party leadership, could get serious if not addressed on time.

Several options are on the table including a Cabinet reshuffle to improve the functioning of the government by removing the ministers who have failed to perform.Oli and Dahal are learnt to have discussed the concerns expressed by Nepal and NCP Spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha when the top leaders were abroad. Prime Minister Oli, upon his return from New York on Thursday, said that disagreement within the party will be managed “within a couple of days”.

Alarmed by Nepal’s criticism in Parliament and the tea party, Dahal, who was in Singapore for the treatment of his wife Sita Dahal, is said to have called up the senior leader, requesting him to wait for some days until he and the PM returned to Kathmandu.“We are planning to complete the unification of the lower committees before Dashain so that leaders may return home with a message of unity,” said Shrestha. The secretariat meeting would also prepare for a Standing Committee meeting.

Unified six months ago, the erstwhile CPN-UML and the CPN (Maoist Centre) announced an alliance ahead of the federal and provincial elections held last year. Several leaders are dissatisfied by the position accorded to them in the unified NCP.

Another NCP leader said that back-to-back meetings of the party secretariat and the standing committee will take crucial decisions concerning the functioning of the government and dissatisfaction among the party members.

As demanded by the disgruntled leaders, the top leaders are preparing to hold the Standing Committee meeting before the Dashain holidays for addressing the issues.Sunday’s secretariat meeting would discuss a wide range of issues with focus on the merger of the lower committees besides scheduling the next meeting.

The Nepal faction of the party has been demanding meetings of the Standing Committee and the Central Committee to discuss the performance of the government and the party leadership. “This time, we are presenting ourselves in a bold way and will not compromise,” said a leader close to Nepal.