The French Polynesian president, Gaston Tong Sang, has asked Paris to dissolve the assembly after his ruling coalition failed to install Gaston Flosse as assembly president.
Mr Tong Sang says he has asked the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, to act because it is no longer possible to run the territory under such circumstances.
This comes after an inconclusive first round of voting in the assembly where Mr Flosse only secured 12 votes, with the opposition's Oscar Temaru winning 23.
The ruling coalition agreed to replace the assembly president this week in line with a deal its members had reached last November when Mr Tong Sang abandoned his coalition with Mr Temaru and sided with Mr Flosse's Tahoeraa Huiraatira to form a new government.
Last week, the assembly president, Philip Schyle, quit Mr Tong Sang's camp in protest at the party honouring its November deal to cede the assembly presidency to the Tahoeraa.
