bhutan

The first-term lawmaker was unbelievably honest. His humility was equalled by the young editor of a weekly newspaper who admitted that it had been a huge mistake to publish a recent editorial that ridiculed newly-elected members of Bhutan's parliament and their role in democracy. The criticism was made worse as the controversial editorial was adapted from another published editorial, written by an unknown author, whose target was the notorious Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe and his iron-fisted running of his country.

It was heartening here to see members of the media and lawmakers apologising to each other for their inability to communicate effectively or to provide information and data to promote the world's youngest democracy. Indeed, both sides are on a fast-track learning curve.

Over the past few years, Bhutan has undergone sea changes. In 2003, the kingdom had no mobile phones; now one-third of the population has a mobile phone while there are only 25,000 fixed lines. With the proliferation of satellite dishes and cable and direct TV, even the remote villages hidden in the mountains now have access to hundreds of channels - and the means to get more of the information they will need to make democracy work