The stunning electoral triumph of one political party in Russia on Sunday, United Russia, has surprised exactly no one. President Vladimir Putin not only promoted the election as a referendum on his eight years in power -- which most Russians applaud -- but also saw fit to arrest rival leaders, keep opponents off TV and push for a popular victory that would hand two-thirds of the lower house of parliament, or State Duma, to his party. International election observers found the situation so dire in mid-November that they boycotted the poll, saying it was impossible for them to work -- which gives Western powers the right not to recognize the results -- and the results, sure enough, suggest that Putin woke up a happy man on Monday.

But his time as president ends next spring, according to term limits set in the Russian constitution. He can't return, immediately, to the nation's top job. So the only serious question is how he intends to continue to steer the former Soviet superpower. He's young, fit, and popular -- the rare leader in modern Russian history to have so much public support on his way out of office -- and there was no indication in the run-up to Sunday's election that he wanted to retire. As head of the freshly victorious United Russia, Putin seems to have a bright career ahead of him, and commentators in German papers on Monday are trying to read the future.

The Financial Times Deutschland writes:

"Before the election it was already clear that (United Russia), along with its leader Vladimir Putin, would become the strongest power in the Duma. The loser's identity was just as obvious: Russia's young democracy."

"Before the eyes of the world, Putin is building an authoritarian regime according to his own whims and needs. The election in the world's largest nation as measured in square miles may not have been watched by formal international observers, but it's easy to see that Putin and his loyalists manipulated the poll in every possible way -- by buying votes, by gentle or not-so-gentle pressure, by intimidating and blocking the opposition as well as what little remains of a free press … This poll had nothing to do with democracy. Yet Putin and the party that supports him can sell the result of Sunday's election as an enormous yes-vote for his policies."

The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung argues:

"Putin is a professional collector of secrets, and he loves wielding the element of surprise. No one knows right now whether he intends to return to power as prime minister, president of the Duma, 'national leader,' or as national president again -- through a compromise or an outright amendment of Russia's constitution. Propaganda before Sunday's election hammered home the idea that only Putin could guarantee stability in Russia; without him, the propaganda claimed, Russia would sink into chaos."

"What's worrisome is the idea that Putin himself might believe this. If he does, he might be tempted to conduct dangerous experiments with Russia's political system with the idea of keeping a grasp on power. Installing a Putin marionette in the Kremlin would be one such experiment. Putin seems to consider the leadership of his party, United Russia, as a post like the general secretariat of the old Communist Party of the Soviet Union -- an example which would let him take the reins of power and degrade the post of president to a figurehead position. The result would be capitalism with a Soviet face."

The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung observes:

"There are many reasons why so many people -- above all the young -- gave Putin their support at the polls. The president managed to present himself as the sole guardian of national stability. Older generations saw participating in the election as a national duty, and Putin is known as the man who returned Russia to its position of dominance in the world. He did so not only by synchronizing the media and the Russian apparatus of power; he was also helped by an economic boom driven by rising prices for oil, gas and raw materials, which plays into the hands of the powerful clique surrounding Putin."

The editor-in-chief of Germany's other financial daily, Handelsblatt, recommends a course of action for Western governments:

"The consequence for the West should be clear: We can no longer view Russia as a natural friend, although we also shouldn't make it an outright enemy. Partnership with Russia remains possible. Instead of wagging fingers at the Kremlin, we should determine with a cold eye where our common interests lie. Where they diverge, we should negotiate against, and if necessary without, Russia -- for example in Iran or Kosovo."

"Russia, Inc., seems to be prospering. But would you invest fresh money in its future? Not me. And the stocks that I've held in my portfolio out of an old love for Russia -- I sold those last Friday."