KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 — Civil servants are free to go on holiday as the federal government has not imposed any order to freeze their leave for the 14th general elections (GE14), the Public Service Department (PSD) has said.

PSD director-general Tan Sri Zainal Rahim Seman said there is no reason to stop the 1.6 million civil servants nationwide from taking leave due to the elections which may be called at any time.

Despite that, it said the situation would differ for those dealing with the elections, such as staff of the Election Commission (EC) and the police.

"We did not issue any specific order to freeze the leave of all public servants, but for those involved in elections, certainly they will be busy and it is not possible that they will go on leave or be allowed to go on leave including to go overseas.

"Other departments or public agencies can go on leave as usual and all such matters will be on the discretion of the respective heads,” he was quoted saying by local daily Berita Harian.

The federal government has yet to announce the date of the 14th general elections, which must be held by this August but can be called earlier.

In an interview this week, Bukit Aman Internal Security and Public Order director Datuk Seri Zulkifli Abdullah told Malay Mail that a total of 60,000 police officers nationwide have been handpicked to learn election laws and undergo training since 2016 in order to keep the peace and public order before, during and after polling day.