"The issue of taxing the public servants however is more difficult."
He was responding to a question posed by Patrick Amerasinghe, a senior businessman who had at one time headed the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Sri Lanka.
Amerasinghe said there were 4,500 politicians at different levels of government in Sri Lanka which was the highest level of politicians per capita in the world.
Sri Lanka also has more than 100 ministers, which Fonseka has pledged to trim.
The island is also reputed to have the highest per capital burden of public sector workers in the world, and certainly the highest in the region.
In a bizarre break down of the principle of rule of law and equality, Sri Lanka's state workers and politicians have been exempt from income taxes on their salaries and pensions from the 1980s, under a UNP administration.
Taxation with representation is a fundamental feature of a democracy.
In the nine months to September 2009, 58 percent of all taxes collected from the people have been paid as salaries and taxes to state workers.
Sri Lanka's current constitution, which the concentrates executive powers with the President, was also enacted by the same administration in 1978. Fonseka has pledged to change the constitution, trim executive powers, and make the parliament stronger.
New private enterprises, especially those with foreign investment was also given tax holidays. The move has now created another privileged section of society.
Wickremesinghe said taxing the broader public sector was a complex issue.
"You cannot tax people at the salaries they are getting now," he said. "Their take home pay will have to be preserved and salaries increased. It is a long term issue."
Sri Lanka's people have taken up arms against the state three times, the Tamil minority once and the Sinhala majority twice. All rebellions have been crushed, with the Tamil separatists being wiped out in May in a two year campaign led by Fonseka.
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