He is a rising star in Umno, a leader who is being groomed for much bigger things. More important, he has the solid backing of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. And no, we are not talking about Abdullah's son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin.

We are referring to Mustapa Mohamed, 54, popularly known as Tok Pa.

Mustafa is one of the seven candidates vying for the three hotly contested vice-president posts at the party polls next month. This is his first stab at becoming the party's veep.

A victory will firmly secure his position in Umno after the sudden boost he got from giving PAS a run for its money in Kelantan during the March general election.

And this is from our crystal ball - expect him to win.

Indeed, Mustafa is a man on the move. There are high hopes that he will soon take over as finance minister from Abdullah, who as PM and internal security minister, has already got too much on his plate.

Clearly, he has impeccable credentials for the job.

He is the former executive director of the National Economic Action Council (NEAC), which advises the government on economic policies.

Mustafa had also served as political secretary to finance minister Daim Zainuddin in the late 80s before being tapped as deputy finance minister in 1994, and a year later as entrepreneur development minister.

In 1998, after the downfall of then finance minister Anwar Ibrahim, he was made the second finance minister to work first under Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and later Daim - who was brought back by the embattled PM for his second stint in the ministry.

Doing the unthinkable

Which explains why Abdullah was willing to do the unthinkable - stitch a deal with arch-rival PAS to set aside the election petitions.

Many doubt that PAS, which held on to Kelantan by the skin of their teeth, would kick up a fuss over an out-of-court settlement.

It was presumed that the party was not going to get a fair hearing in court. And PAS' silver bullet - calling a snap election - could work against them, especially so soon after the March 21 polls.

But what's in it for Abdullah? It's here that Mustafa comes into the picture.

While a number of PAS poll petitions cited incidences of vote-buying in the general election, the most damning are those involving Mustapa both at his Jeli parliamentary seat and his Air Lanas state seat - Umno had made a rare exception for the Kelantan party boss to run in both seats.

According to the PAS petition, there is strong evidence that Mustafa had bought votes during the election campaign amounting to at least RM78,000.

Other than hard cold cash, Mustafa had allegedly offered cigarettes, sarung and kain pelikat to his voters through his 'agents', who were among others, his wife and brother.

Among the payments he had allegedly made was a lump sum of RM50,000 to an individual, with another RM15,000 thrown in for the man's 'subordinates'.

His wife, Kamarzan Meah, had allegedly handed a voter RM30 at a shop when making her campaign rounds.

Meanwhile, Mustafa's younger brother, Mokhtar, was alleged to have given a total of RM12,600 to an individual on four separate occasions, after which RM100 notes were later handed out to voters.

As for Mustafa himself, he was alleged to have penned a letter embellished with the NEAC letterhead urging voters to ensure his victory in Jeli and Air Lanas, as well as the victory of Umno candidates for the two other state seats under his parliamentary constituency.

His handwritten letter said: "Saudara, I attach herewith a little contribution to help in the election campaign. I hope we can all ensure that I win in Jeli and Air Lanas while Mr Adhan (Kechik) in Bukit Bunga and Mr Aziz (Derashid) in Kuala Balah ."

Unexpected problems

These are, by no means, flippant allegations. PAS has a copy of the NEAC letter and had lined up at least 10 witnesses who allegedly received the kickbacks to testify in court.

No wonder Abdullah went out of his way to stop the case from being heard in court. Mustafa's political career would be dead in the water if he was disqualified by the court.

The secret pact has, however, caused unforeseen problems - Mustafa's deputy in Umno Kelantan, Zaid Ibrahim, who was not informed of the deal, has privately expressed his indignation.

PAS' coalition partner, Parti Rakyat Keadilan (PKR), too was piqued for being kept in the dark. PKR is rightfully sore because their sole seat, Permatang Pauh in Penang, which the party won with a narrow 590 majority, was not part of the deal.

The Election Court is currently hearing the petition filed by Umno on Permatang Pauh. Not surprisingly, Umno smells blood and is gearing for a by-election to kill off PKR once and for all. Thus, expect the court to order fresh polls for the seat.

We will never know the truth behind the allegations against 'rising star' Mustafa. With the court being robbed of the opportunity to examine the case, the final decision will now be left to the court of public opinion.

As for Mustapa, he can thank his lucky stars that Abdullah does not see vote-buying in general elections the same way he sees vote-buying in Umno.