President-elect George Abela says he wants his Presidency to represent "unity in diversity".

In his first interview since gaining unanimous parliamentary approval on Wednesday to become the country's eighth President, Dr Abela upholds the President's traditional role of avoiding controversy and insists that the Presidency "cannot and must not" enter into political or social controversy.

Dr Abela says he will continue to speak his mind but will do so in private during official talks with the Prime Minister and the Leader of Opposition.

When asked whether non-traditional families would find solace in his Presidency, he referred to the formal address he will be delivering tomorrow when he takes his oath of office and which would "reflect what the new President feels and believes".

He apologises to all those he may have hurt in his previous public roles. "I was an active person and an active person makes mistakes. I do not hesitate to apologise to whoever I may have hurt with my actions in the various roles I occupied throughout my career," he says.

He also stresses that in five years' time he would want people to remember him for "bringing stature to the Presidency and creating a sense of state".