Muslim Brotherhood leaders have held secret meetings with members of the most influential families and tribes in Upper Egypt to secure their political support in return for parliamentary seats, ex-Brotherhood member Tharwat El-Kharabawi told  Sada El-Balad TV network Tuesday.

"Mubarak used to follow the same approach; those people will abide by the Muslim Brotherhood agenda if they are guaranteed parliamentary seats in the next elections," El-Kharabawi said. 

El-Kharabawi added that the Brotherhood is gradually losing its popular base due to their weak performance in office, pointing out that its leadership had counted on the southern regions to pass the recently-approved referendum on the post-revolutionary, yet controversial, constitution.  

Upper Egypt governorates saw some of the highest percentages of "Yes" votes across the country: the national charter was approved by 89 per cent of voters in Fayoum and 79 per cent in Sohag.

Overall the constitution was passed by 63.5 per cent of the country's votes.  

The well-known lawyer called on Egyptians to think carefully before supporting any of the political forces that use "Islamist slogans" and added that people needed to question the statement and claims being propagated by such groups.