Nivell Rayda – The House of Representatives special committee investigating the bailout of Bank Century is set finally to wrap up its boisterous proceedings in early March, ending almost three months of high drama and low comedy.

There were high expectations when the committee, or Pansus, first started investigating the Rp 6.7 trillion ($710 million) bailout on Dec. 14 in an atmosphere of claim and counterclaim.

Many hoped the inquiry would explain where taxpayers' money went and shed light on the complications surrounding the rescue. Those expectations were soon dashed.

Just three days into the inquiry, the ruling Democratic Party's Ruhut Sitompul set the tone when he told Gayus Lumbuun, a member of the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), to "shut up."

National television played the argument over and over again. Social networking Web site Twitter was soon flooded with Pansus-related discussions comparing the inquiry to favorite soap operas or movie comedies.

"Kungfu Pansus" is just an excuse for House factions to squabble, wrote one Twitter user, comparing the committee to the popular animated movie "Kungfu Panda."

Through it all, the Pansus show had one dominant star: Ruhut. The outspoken former lawyer caused another stir when he referred to former Vice President Jusuf Kalla as "daeng," a term used as a sign of respect in Kalla's home region of Makassar.

Kalla expressed annoyance that Ruhut, a Batak, dared used the term daeng. This silliness also received airtime, while the nuts and bolts of forensic accounting somehow seemed irrelevant.

But Ruhut could only sit in silence on the day he became a target of verbal abuse by a former Bank Century depositor, Sri Gayatri. The 50-year-old businesswoman, who lost Rp 600 million when the bank collapsed, expressed her outrage at the committee for failing to pinpoint who was at fault.

Sri Gayatri has something of a track record herself. When the bank was closed in 2008 she climbed onto the roof of a Bank Century company car and shouted her disapproval. Her rowdy behavior landed her in the custody of the Surabaya police last week when she single-handedly rallied outside the bank, now renamed PT Bank Mutiara, destroying potted plants and scrawling graffiti reading, "Arrest the Bank Century thieves!"

Several members of the House committee were visiting the Surabaya branch of the bank when she unleashed her rampage. Their job was to determine how several deposit accounts were supposedly embezzled and illegally transferred to a fraudulent investment scheme. They returned empty-handed and later said such digging might be better left to professional investigators such as the National Police or the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). Funny that.

Another senseless visit was the jaunt to the Ministry of Finance to reenact the Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK) meeting at which the decision to bail out the bank was made. The Pansus spent more than two hours determining who would sit where – despite the fact that the committee already had recordings of the original meeting.

TV news stations will certainly miss the inquiry, which has provided laughs, drama and anger – all for free. What will Metro TV and TV One do for news after Pansus ends?

Ultimately, it seems that the inquiry will lead to nothing. The reform credentials of the committee's apparent targets, Vice President Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, remain largely intact and the entire exercise has been exposed as little more than an attempt by various political parties to gain advantage over the ruling Democrats.

With the Pansus series canceled, now the KPK will have to do the real work. Away from the cameras.