SASLESS, the reason is that without the regulators adopting a punitive policy expressed in the alleviations afforded by MMELs the safety advantage afforded to the CAT PAX is lost in translation.
The AS332L2 is a bitch to fly with AP out and even if offered one with degraded coupler functions, for a night flight, I would refuse to take it as is our right as Commander.
In the NS we do not have a problem getting the AC fixed in relatively double quick time thanks to the quality of our engineers and the availability of spares.
Older machines may have older concepts within their MMELs as that was the standard at the time.
I hope this helps.