 He also maintained that "Norway is the fatherland of the Norwegians, and Norwegians are a nation within the white race," and during a television debate with fellow lawyer and politician Abid Raja said that he could not call himself a Norwegian, only a Pakistani-Norwegian—they both nevertheless affirmed that they had great respect for each other.Gjems-Onstad was expelled from the Pensioners' Party before the election, but removal from the ballot is legally impossible.As the election was held the Pensioners' Party did not win any seats, and the local party leadership expressed their delight.