SHAH ALAM, Nov 29 — Sulu “princess” Jacel Kiram’s chances of becoming a Philippine senator have increased due to the publicity she gained from the controversy here over her meeting with Nurul Izzah Anwar, PKR MP Darrell Leiking asserted today.

The PKR vice-president said the attention on the incident by Barisan Nasional (BN) gave the daughter of the late Jamalul Kiram III, the Sulu “Sultan” whose forces invaded Sabah in 2013, prominence that she could leverage in elections in her home country.

“I don’t think any of us knew Jacel Kiram before this, but the BN government has made her popular. And maybe now she can probably win as a senator in the Philippines,” he said during his winding up speech at the PKR congress today.

“If the federal government wants to label Jacel as a criminal, why doesn’t this federal government ask for a diplomatic extraction (of Jacel) from the Philippines?”

The Penampang MP also sought to defend Nurul Izzah by claiming that Sabahans were not hurt by her meeting Jacel, but at Putrajaya for — according to him — allowing the Philippines to maintain a claim over Sabah.

He said that Putrajaya should discontinue all diplomatic relations with the Philippines, failing which Sabahans would remain angry.

“As long as federal government maintains diplomatic ties with the Philippines i think they are not honest, they are bunch of liars,” he said.

Nurul Izzah, who is PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s daughter, triggered controversy by posing together with Jacel for photographs during a trip to the Philippines.

Nurul Izzah later confirmed that she was in the Philippines on November 9 with fellow federal lawmaker Chua Tian Chang as part of a PKR delegation to meet with “various stakeholders” there, and explained that the guests were decided by the organisers and she had no knowledge she would be meeting Jacel.

On Thursday, the Sabah legislative assembly voted in favour of a motion to ban Nurul Izzah and Chua from entering the state over the issue.

Police are also investigating both lawmakers over the meeting.