He was raised in the community, attended secondary school in nearby Peja, and earned a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Pristina.
He finished ninth among the party's candidates and was elected when the list won a majority victory with seventeen out of thirty-one seats.
[11] Søren Jessen-Petersen, special representative of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), praised Manaj later in the year for implementing Standards on return.
[12] Kosovo president and LDK leader Fatmir Sejdiu appointed Manaj as his political advisor in February 2006.
[15] The following year, he was named as a party representative on Kosovo's constitutional commission and served on a working group on state symbols.
In January 2008, Manaj dismissed an offer by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for further talks on the status of Kosovo.
Even if these negotiations had continued for years, they would have again ended up being unsuccessful, because Serbia lacks the readiness to recognize the state of Kosova [the Albanian-language name for Kosovo].
"[29] While serving as deputy prime minister, Manaj signed an agreement with Estonia on the recognition of the Republic of Kosovo.
[32] Manaj welcomed the nomination of Joseph Biden as the Democratic Party's vice-presidential nominee for the 2008 United States presidential election, given Biden's record of support for the Republic of Kosovo, although he added, "Strong bonds of cooperation between the United States and Kosova have already been established, and regardless of who wins the elections we do not expect changes in the US policy towards Kosova.
"[33] The LDK experienced significant divisions after party founder Ibrahim Rugova's death in 2006 and remained divided during the 2008–10 ministry.
All ministers from the party tendered their resignations; Manaj was the only one to meet with Hashim Thaçi in person to explain his decision.