Armando Siahaan & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The House of Representatives should let law enforcement agencies do their job first before using its so-called right to express an opinion, seen as a first step toward impeaching Vice President Boediono, on the Bank Century bailout investigation, a lawmaker and an analyst said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, five lawmakers from different factions initiated a move to use the House's right to voice an opinion in an apparent effort to impeach Boediono for his decision to approve the state-funded bailout when he was central bank governor in 2008.

However, Deputy Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso, a member of the Golkar Party, said lawmakers should wait for the conclusion of investigations into the Century bailout, as was recommended by the full House last month.

"Although I'm not forbidding any lawmakers from using their right, for now, I think we should give the government time to follow up our recommendations on the case," Priyo said. He said the right to express an opinion was a tool that may used only in emergency situations.

"When we feel that the government is not doing anything in following up our recommendations, then we may use the right," he said.

Arya Fernandes, a political analyst for consulting firm Charta Politika, said the lawmakers should give the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) more time because there was no indication that the antigraft body was moving slowly in its investigation of the bailout.

On Tuesday, KPK spokesman Johan Budi said the commission would soon summon and question both Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.

Separately, Taufik Kiemas, the chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), said that for now it would be better for lawmakers to channel their demands on the case through a monitoring team, an independent team established by the House.

Arya said such a team would enable the lawmakers to monitor the case while allowing the KPK to do its job free from political pressure. "It is important to show the public that the House is not trying to attack the government," he said. The call for the right implies that the case has switched from the legal to the political realm, he added.

However, Ari Dwipayana, a political analyst from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, said the lawmakers should push for the right to express their opinion because the KPK was already working under political pressure. He said that following the House vote on the Bank Century bailout, the president gave a speech that defended the bailout, which must have influenced the KPK.

"It is the constitutional right of the lawmakers," he said, adding that the lawmakers should push for both the establishment of a monitoring team and the right to express an opinion.

However, both Arya and Ari agreed that the realization of the right would be an uphill battle. "The party constellation has changed since the plenary vote. Political parties are no longer calling for the right to express an opinion," Ari said, adding that the current composition of the House made it nearly impossible for the right to be approved.

In order to use the right, the lawmakers would need to secure the signatures of 25 members for the request to be tabled at the plenary meeting. It would then need to be endorsed by a minimum of three-quarters of the total number of lawmakers present in a plenary session attended by a minimum of 75 percent of the total number of legislators.

The Democratic Party has 148 lawmakers, or more than one quarter of the House's 560 members. "If the Democrat faction decides to boycott the meeting, everything is over," Ari said.