(BRUSSELS) - Robert Mugabe's power in Zimbabwe is "questionable" as the country's only legitimate election was the first-round of the presidential vote which he lost, the EU presidency said Saturday.

"The European Union regrets to note that the people of Zimbabwe were unable to express their will at the elections on June 27; as a result these elections cannot be regarded as legitimate and the power of the elected representatives is questionable," the EU's Slovenian presidency said in a statement.

"The Union reiterates that the only legitimate elections are those of March 29 this year, as they were carried out in an acceptable manner and may serve as a basis for arriving at an acceptable solution," the statement continued.

Polling officers finished counting the votes from Zimbabwe's one-man election and the results were being centrally collated, the official electoral commission said in Harare Saturday.

Mugabe was certain of victory after a campaign marked by intimidation of voters and branded a sham by both the opposition and the West.

The comments from the EU presidency, which Slovenia will hand over to France next week, came hours after the European Commission called for a "negotiated political resolution" to Zimbabwe's electoral crisis, based on the first round result when main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai came out on top.

EU Commissioner for Development Louis Michel said in a statement that Europe expected strong leadership from both the African Union and the Southern African Development Community "to secure a negotiated political resolution of the crisis and push for a transitional framework for Zimbabwe, to prevent the country from plunging further into the abyss."

However any such mediation or negotiation "must be based on the results of the first run of the elections, where the people of Zimbabwe were able to express their will," he added.

The EU presidency statement said the bloc would continue to provide assistance to the population of Zimbabwe reiterating its demand that "measures against humanitarian organisations be immediately lifted."

It also warned that "the European Union does not exclude the possibility of taking appropriate measures against those responsible for the tragic events of recent months."

Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) candidate Tsvangirai was the winner of the first round vote on March 29, with 47.9 percent of votes cast to Mugabe's 43.2 percent, but he refused to take part in Friday's run-off after a wave of deadly attacks on his supporters.

"We consider that the systematic use of state-sponsored political violence and intimidation which led to the withdrawal of MDC candidate Morgan Tsvangirai has totally undermined the credibility of the process," said Michel.

"The results of such a sham election cannot and will not be recognized as legitimate," he added, echoing the earlier reaction from EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

On Friday Solana said: "Democracy has not been served by today's run-off election. The people of Zimbabwe have been deprived of their right to vote freely and thus deprived of their dignity."

US President George W. Bush said Saturday he had directed that sanctions be drawn up against the "illegitimate" government of Zimbabwe.

Gordon Brown, prime minister of the former colonial power Britain, described the election as "a new low" and said the international community was coming together against Mugabe's "illegitimate" rule.

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