COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, who has taken a hard line with Tamil Tiger rebels in the past, has won the race to become the island nation's fifth president.While thirteen candidates have vied for the presidency, the election became a tight race between the Freedom Party's Rajapakse and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.Rajapakse received 4.88 million votes, or 50.3 percent, compared to 4.70 million, or 48.4 percent, for Wickremesinghe, an election official told The Associated Press.The Prime Minister's Office appealed to the Sri Lankan people "to behave peacefully and celebrate the victory without harming opponents." The 60-year-old Rajapakse has held firm in his stance with the Tamil Tiger rebels -- who control the northern and eastern parts of the country -- while United National Party leader Wickremesinghe brokered the cease-fire with the Tamil separatists three years ago.He was seen by many as being in a position to achieve a lasting peace agreement with the Tamils, who make up just over 20 percent of Sir Lanka's 19 million people.The election commissioner put voter turnout at about 75 percent, despite most Tamils appearing to have boycotted the election.Sri Lanka's bourse plunged on the news that Rajapakse had claimed victory, falling nearly 7 percent, as traders think his hardliner Marxist allies will not be very market-friendly, according to Reuters reports.Grenade attacks and intimidation kept many monitory Tamils form the polls, with analysts telling Reuters news agency this may have helped swing the vote away from the moderate Wickremesinghe towards the hawkish Rajapakse.Police blamed the rebels for an explosion that killed two voters as they went to cast their ballots in the eastern coastal district of Batticaloa.A grenade apparently exploded in a home near a polling station, also injuring six people, authorities said on Thursday, as 13 million Sri Lankans headed to the polls.Police said two similar incidents took place Thursday in Batticaloa, injuring eight civilians, five policemen and two home guards.Tough taskRajapakse will be tasked with resolving the country's two-decade-long ethnic conflict with the rebels, which has resulted in more than 60,000 deaths.The rebels took up arms over what they say was discrimination against their group, most of whom are Hindu by the predominantly Buddhist Sinhalese majority.Rajapakse opposes power-sharing with the Tamils. After brokering a ceasefire deal with the Tamils, Wickremesinghe invited Norway to play the role of facilitator in the peace talks that followed.However, the rebels pulled out of the talks in 2003, leaving behind a shaky ceasefire. Since then, the two sides have continued to level allegations against each other over violations.Wickremesinghe has pledged, if elected, to resume talks and bring peace, and has sought a mandate from voters to form a national government with outgoing President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga's Freedom Party.She is ending her second term as president, and the constitution forbids her from vying for a third term.But Wickremesinghe's party suffered a major blow November 10 when the rebels decided they would not back any candidate. They want to ask voters in areas under their control to boycott the elections, translating into fewer votes for the 56-year-old.The rebels say successive governments in the southern part of the country have not resolved their problems. Emissaries were heading to the rebel held northern town of Kilinochchi to plead their case.Tamil hard-linerThough from the Freedom Party, Rajapakse has angered his own President Kumaratunga over a number of election-related issues.One is his decision to enter into electoral pacts with the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), or the People's Liberation Front, and the Jathika Hela Urumaya, or National Heritage, a nationalist party of Buddhist monks.The JVP pulled out of Kumaratunga's United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) in June, protesting over a mechanism she evolved with the Tiger rebels to share foreign aid for recovery after last December's devastating tsunami.This led to the UPFA becoming a minority government in parliament.Rajapakse has pledged to abolish the aid system and introduce a scheme where relief will not go directly to the Tiger rebels. This is after allegations the rebels were using part of the aid to rebuild their military infrastructure.He has also angered Kumaratunga by disregarding her policy of sharing power with the rebels, and pledged that such power sharing should be with the consensus of the people. This is in marked contrast to Wickremesinghe, who has vowed to introduce a federal system.Big messageOutgoing Kumaratunga has been openly critical of her prime minister and her party's candidate. She has said during public rallies that devolution of power for the Tamil areas was an essential prerequisite for peace.A big message awaits the winner of the November 17 presidential elections.On November 27, Tiger rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran will deliver his annual "Maveerar (Great Heroes) Day" address, where he will spell out his organization's plans for the coming year.Having built a formidable military machine during three and half years of ceasefire, including an airstrip and acquisition of aircraft, what Prabhakaran will tell the new president of Sri Lanka is highly anticipated.Whether he would be content with a settlement within a unitary Sri Lanka, a federal set up or demand more remains the critical question.Journalist Iqbal Athas contributed to this reportCopyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.