and "mafioso". Following Berlusconi's resignation, Mario Monti formed a new government that would remain in office until the next scheduled elections in 2013. On 16 November, Monti announced that he had formed a Cabinet and was sworn in as Prime Minister of Italy, also appointing himself as Minister of Economy and Finances. In the following years Berlusconi often expressed his point of view regarding his resignation in 2011. He accused Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy, Christine Lagarde and Giorgio Napolitano, along with other global economic and financial powers, to have plotted against him and forced him to resign, because he refused to accept a loan from the International Monetary Fund, which according to him, would have sold the country to the IMF. This theory was confirmed by the former Prime Minister of Spain José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. 2013 general election In December 2012, Berlusconi announced on television that he would run again to become Prime Minister of Italy. Berlusconi said his party's platform would include opposition to Mario Monti's economic performance, which he said put Italy into a "recessive spiral without end." He also told the media on the sidelines of A.C. Milan's practice session, the football club he owns along with Mediaset, the largest media outlet in the country, that he races to win. He said: "To win, everyone said there had to be a tested leader. It's not that we did not look for one. We did, and how! But there isn't one ... I'm doing it out of a sense of responsibility." On 7 January 2013, Berlusconi announced he had made a coalition agreement (centre-right coalition) with Lega Nord (LN); as part of it, PdL would support Roberto Maroni's bid for the presidency of Lombardy, and he would run as "leader of the coalition" but suggested he could accept a role as Minister of Economy under a cabinet headed by another People of Freedom (PdL) member, such as Angelino Alfano. Later that day, LN leader Maroni confirmed his party would not support Berlusconi being appointed as Prime Minister in the case of an electoral win. Berlusconi's coalition gained 29.1% of votes and 125 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, 30.7% of votes and 117 seats in the Senate. In April 2013, Berlusconi's PdL announced his support of the Letta government, together with the Democratic Party and the centrist Civic Choice, of former Prime Minister Mario Monti. Refoundation of