<![CDATA[This study examines language politeness in the 2024 public debate of governor and vice governor candidates of Central Sulawesi. Political debates are not only forums for presenting visions and missions but also arenas where candidates employ various communication strategies that may reflect politeness or violate politeness principles. Therefore, this study aims to describe the forms of language politeness and identify violations of politeness principles found in the debate. This research employed a descriptive qualitative approach within the framework of pragmatics. The data consisted of utterances produced by the candidates during the third segment of the debate, which involved direct interaction among candidates. Data were collected through observation and note-taking techniques and analyzed using the interactive model of Miles and Huberman, including data reduction, data classification, and conclusion drawing. The findings revealed 91 utterances containing politeness forms and politeness violations. Based on Leech’s politeness principle, five politeness maxims were identified, namely tact maxim, approbation maxim, agreement maxim, sympathy maxim, and modesty maxim. The most dominant politeness form was the tact maxim with 20 data, while the most frequent violation was the modesty maxim violation with 10 data. Based on Brown and Levinson’s theory, three politeness strategies were found: positive politeness, negative politeness, and bald-on-record. Positive politeness was the most dominant strategy with 57 data. The findings indicate that language politeness in political debates functions not only to maintain social relationships but also as a political communication strategy to build self-image, influence public opinion, and defend arguments in a competitive context.]]>
