Why was the proposed constitution released in 2003 criticized by advocates of democratic reform?

The proposed constitution released in 2003 was criticized by advocates of democratic reform because it failed to provide meaningful political change. Specifically, the draft was condemned for maintaining the king’s absolute governing powers and for explicitly banning opposition political parties.12

While King Mswati III had commissioned the draft in 2001 to address growing demands for reform and public protests, the 2003 document was viewed as insufficient by his critics. A revised version was eventually signed in 2005 and took effect in 2006; while this final iteration removed the explicit ban on political parties, it notably failed to acknowledge their existence, continuing to limit the scope of democratic participation in Eswatini.123