Georgia’s State Security Service has announced it has uncovered yet another potential coup and assassination plot. Some local analysts believe the announcement is a ploy by the Georgian Dream government to garner public support as the country gears up for pivotal parliamentary elections in the fall. 

In a Facebook statement posted on July 24, the State Security Service said it is conducting an investigation into a coup plot, a central element of which was the intended assassination of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire backer and honorary chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party. The statement alleged the plot was “financed by former high-ranking officials of the Georgian government and former employees of law enforcement agencies in Ukraine.” It did not provide any evidence to support the government’s claims.

Local media reported that authorities summoned six people – some of whom have fought in Ukraine – for questioning as part of the investigation. 

Kornely Kakachia, director of the Georgian Institute of Politics, said that the State Security Service’s announcement is likely an effort to shore up domestic support for Georgian Dream before the parliamentary vote on Oct. 26. The incumbents may be hoping for a ratings bump similar to that which US presidential candidate Donald Trump enjoyed after surviving an assassination attempt. 

“I think GD probably thought that it will be good for the campaign if they self-victimize somehow,” he said. “GD is now seen kind of [like an] oppressor. Now they want to change this image the other way around.” 

Unsubstantiated coup conspiracy claims are nothing new for Georgian Dream. Last fall, the party asserted that a USAID-funded workshop was actually training revolutionaries bent on overthrowing the government, something the US embassy categorically denied. Such unproven claims have been cited by US officials as a cause for the rapid deterioration of Georgia’s relations with Western institutions, including NATO and the European Union. 

The context surrounding the latest coup allegations is different in that it is more domestically focused. The government’s unpopularity among young people has spiked since the start of the year, following the government’s adoption of controversial laws that critics say restrict individual liberties. 

Georgia was swept by mass protests this spring against the government’s embrace of illiberal policies. That movement has fizzled out, but discontent continues to simmer beneath the surface of Georgian society. In recent weeks, the government experienced a public relations pummeling in the international arena as US, NATO and EU officials publicly rebuked Georgian Dream over its policy actions. The domestic protest movement could revive as Georgia moves into campaign season, especially if it appears Georgian Dream is engaging in irregularities to maintain its hold on power. 

In addition to the coup plot claim, the leader of a Georgian paramilitary unit fighting in Ukraine said on July 22 that Georgian authorities had placed 300 of its members on a wanted list. “This was done so that the Georgian government would have grounds to arrest us,” Mamuka Mamulashvili, commander of the Georgian Legion, told The Insider. Authorities previously implicated the Georgian Legion in last fall’s coup attempt. 

Georgian Dream’s opponents have long asserted the government is doing Russia’s bidding, claims that officials deny. The Kremlin, then, didn’t do Georgian Dream any favors by commenting on the latest coup plot allegations, appearing to lend credence to the claims. “We believe that any assassination attempt is an act of terrorism – all the more so if it targets incumbent politicians – an introduction of illegal forceful methods into political struggle,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov said.