Mark Bennetts (British journalist based in Moscow) says betting on politics in Russia is prohibited, but if possible, a brave or foolish man - as critics say - would have wagered on the loss of President Vladimir Putin in this week's referendum on constitutional reforms, which would allow him Stay in office until 2036.

Officially, as the writer mentioned in his report in the British newspaper The Times; 78% of voters supported the amendments that reassigned the borders of Putin's mandate, allowing him to seek re-election in 2024 and 2030.

He alluded to the Kremlin's praise of the vote as a "victory" for Putin, and evidence that the former Soviet intelligence agent enjoyed overwhelming public support, despite declining ratings of support.

However, as Benates added, not everyone agrees, and some analysts say polling station data indicates that pro-government officials have stolen tens of millions of votes.

The statistician Sergei Spielkin described the poll as "the most fraudulent vote nationwide" since the Soviet era.

A satirical picture on social media showing what Putin looks like in 2036 (The Times)

For Putin's critics, the referendum and its contested official results were neither exciting news. "Putin decided a long time ago to rule for life. The Crimea and war crimes in southeast Ukraine and the downing of the MH-17 passenger plane means that even if he wants to, he cannot retire, the stakes are very high," said opposition activist Leonid Volkov.

In the wake of the vote, critics called out Putin's comment in 2012, when he returned to the presidency after 4 years as prime minister to go beyond the limits of the time he could ignore now: "If I had believed that a totalitarian or authoritarian regime was best for us I would have simply changed the constitution, and it was easy to do With that. "

The author indicated that Putin has not yet confirmed that he will seek re-election in 2024 and beyond. Some analysts believe he is simply keen to keep his options open, and he can decide to rule behind the scenes as head of the State Council, a Kremlin advisory body that is set to gain increasing powers as part of the constitutional change.

He concluded that there is little evidence that constitutional changes will prevent a steady decline in Putin's support ratings, which this year fell to a record low of 59%, according to the Levada independent center in Moscow.