FORMER government minister Robert Le Hunte says parties contesting the April 28 general election must accept the time for populist politics is over.

He said the population must accept the world is facing challenging times, Trinidad and Tobago is not immune from those challenges and needs "an appropriate team of individuals to lead us forward."

In a statement on April 16, Le Hunte made reference to recent tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump, other countries responses to those tariffs and the revocation of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) licences issued for the Dragon and Manakin/Cocuina fields in Venezuela as examples of challenges the new government cannot run away from post April 28.