“I took the decision after realising that Umno has lost its direction.

“I will be submitting my membership application form to Shafie soon together with other former Umno members,” she said.

Armani, who is the younger sister of head of state Juhar Mahiruddin, said she and her supporters would join Warisan as regular members as their only intention was to join Shafie in championing the people’s rights.

She also claimed that this was just the first wave and believed more Umno members would follow suit.

“As for the other Umno Wanita members in other divisions, it is up to them to decide whether they want to stay in Umno or otherwise. They can go wherever they wish,” she said.

Meanwhile, Armani told FMT that former Umno members in Sabah should not be discouraged from joining Warisan despite objections from Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders.

“We in Sabah are different. Yes, PH is here but Warisan is in control of the state government. And if Warisan says okay, why should anybody complain?” she said.