He is a member of the Democratic Party of Albania and served as Minister of Education and Sciences in the cabinet of Sali Berisha.

Shortly after his graduation, in 1990, Tafaj was awarded a one-year fellowship from the German Foundation for International Development, which gave him the possibility to continue his research in Germany.

On 12 March 1997, Tafaj was named the Minister of Education in President Sali Berisha's placeholder government.

In 1999, Tafaj was awarded a fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, which allowed him to return to Germany and work as a visiting professor at the University of Hohenheim.

Eventually, in 2005, he returned to Albania to work as a professor at the Agricultural University of Tirana and as a councilor for the Ministry of Education and Sciences.