We want to only allow the user to manipulate link suggestions; we don't want to allow them to make any other changes. For that reason we'll have to disable the editor and remove the toolbar (except for the controls that the design calls for).
A disabled surface presumably wouldn't allow the selection to be changed by clicking in it, which might cause more selection management problems when dealing with the context (see also T267706: Add a link in VE: Use a permanent context instead of VE's built-in context). We would probably also need explicit code to make clicking on text annotated with a link suggestion navigate to that suggestion (right now this happens automatically because of the selection change it causes).