Paulauskas unsuccessfully urged his colleagues to vote in favor of the resolution.
"How can we defend the honor of our colleagues? The only way is by allowing an investigation," he said during a debate on the resolution.
Acting on recommendation of the General Prosecutor's Office, a special parliamentary commission drafted a resolution that would have revoked immunity from prosecution-a privilege enjoyed by all MPs-from Andriukaitis, Vidziu-nas, and Kvietkauskas.
Prosecutors have said that they suspect all three lawmakers of having received paybacks from Andrius Janukonis, chief executive of the Rubicon Group conglomerate.
The special ad hoc commission formed to investigate the charges concluded on July 13 that the evidence produced by prosecutors and the Special Investigation Service-the independent government organization that launched the probe--was grave enough to warrant the revocation of immunity.
According to investigators, Andriukaitis accepted 95,000 litas (28,000 euros), Vidziunas 40,000 litas, and Kvietkauskas 25,000 litas in exchange for influencing legislation in Rubicon's favor.
While the Seimas (Lithuania's parliament) vote will ostensibly save the parliamentarians from painful investigation prior to the end of their terms this autumn, all three publicly expressed their interest in having their immunity stripped.
Andriukaitis, who ran in the 2002 presidential elections and is a prominent figure in the ruling Social Democratic Party, announced his resignation immediately following the vote, thus making him eligible for participation in an investigation.
President Valdas Adamkus hailed Andriukaitis' decision as a positive precedent.
"I congratulate Andriukaitis on his decision, and I think this is the right path," Adamkus said from the Seimas floor.
Neither of the other two accused lawmakers followed Andriukaitis' example, however, and Kvietkauskas had already left the country at the time of the vote.
Prosecutors did not say if they would press forward with charges against Andriukaitis.
The refusal of MPs to revoke parliamentary immunity from their colleagues against the advice of many of the country's most vocal politicians is yet another bizarre twist in a scandal that has, as yet, produced more questions than answers.
Turmoil erupted on June 22-at the height of campaigning for presidential elections--when officers, acting on orders from the Special Investigation Service, raided the headquarters of four political parties in search of documents related to the bribery charges.
During the course of further examination of evidence, the list of parties allegedly involved dwindled from four to two-the Social Democratic party, of which Kvietkauskas is also a member, and Vidziunas' Homeland Union-Lithuanian Conservatives.
Prosecutors were further forced to pare their initial prognosis of five accused MPs down to the three currently in question.
According to some legal experts, the seeming irregularities of the investigation process bring into question the staying power the cases may have in court.
"If these cases went to [the European Court of Human Rights in] Strasbourg, Lithuania would undoubtedly lose because of procedural faults," said Kestutis Cilinskas, chairman of the Human Rights Monitoring Institute's managerial board.
"Our courts will have to decide if evidence was collected correctly, although it's already obvious that the investigation as such was begun illegally," he said.
Following the vote, Deputy General Prosecutor Gintaras Jasaitis told journalists he did not rule out the possibility that his office would charge the MPs after their terms end and their period of immunity expires.
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