It is just over two weeks before they face off in general elections.

At a campaign event for the CDU/CSU conservative bloc, Laschet criticized Social Democrat (SPD) candidate Olaf Scholz over his reaction to raids on offices of the Finance Ministry – the ministry that Scholz currently leads as part of Merkel’s coalition.

“If your own ministry is raided, telling the public prosecutor what they could have done better is (behaviour) that is usually the reserve of populist states,” Laschet said. “You should avoid anything that gives the impression that we do not have an independent judiciary.”

Scholz had told reporters that the raids – conducted on Thursday to gather evidence against unnamed employees of the money laudering division of German Customs – had been unneccessary and that the desired information could have been requested in writing.

Laschet’s conservative bloc has fallen several points behind the SPD in recent polls.

On Friday, research firm Forschungsgruppe Wahlen said that 22 per cent of respondents to its latest poll had said they would vote for the CDU/CSU, while 25 per cent said they would vote for the Scholz-led SPD.